A poignant meditation on death and life, ‘The Room Next Door’ is a daunting film that tackles the idea of euthanasia head-on. It is not a bombastic film filled with histrionics and unnecessary drama (though there are some scenes that lean into the melodrama but more on that later), the Pedro Almadovar directed and written movie, based on a novel by Sigrid Nunez called ‘What Are You Going Through’, is just a series of moments, of conversations between its two protagonists. Their lives are unfurled until a request, almost halfway through the film, turns everything into an ongoing negotiation.
Ingrid (Julianne Moore) is a successful author, who has written about her fear of death in her books. During a book signing event, she bumps into an old friend who tells her that another friend of theirs, Martha (Tilda Swinton) is struggling with stage 3 cervical cancer. Not having seen each other in a long time, Ingrid takes time out to visit Martha and the two reconnect and Ingrid becomes her closer friend in these trying times. She’s there as Martha experiences her worst and her best days during treatment and it’s a bond that allows Martha to make a request: she wants Ingrid to be in the room next door when she decides to kill herself with a suicide pill (hence the title).
The first half of the film is just the two of them talking, reconnecting, with Martha sharing her strongest memories of her past and shares why she is estranged from her daughter. The film shifts to flashbacks of these moments and, strangely enough, guided by the intricate music composed by Alberto Iglesias, the film takes on many genres. When Martha shares her story of how she met her daughter’s father, Fred, the film shifts into a period teen romance but when she continues to tell us how he returned from the Vietnam war, it becomes a drama about PTSD and letting go. The film shifts genres occasionally, made seamless by a shift in the pervasive musical score that grounds the film.
It shifts and transforms because Ingrid is torn by Martha’s request. She loves her friend, but she finds death “so unnatural.” The movie is anchored by Swinton and Moore’s incredible performances. Moore is constantly at the brink, trying to understand but also trying to be supportive and this struggle is so clear in her looks, gesture, posture, delivery of lines. Swinton, on the other hand, is a powerhouse, considering her character is frail and at the brink of death. The make-up and lighting make her look gaunt and her physicality is riddled with pain yet there is a vibrant spirit behind her who is trying to reclaim any sense of dignity she can muster before cancer takes it all away.
And through their navigation of this choice, Almadovar creates a wonderful little film about the wonders of life and the inevitability of death.
It’s a quiet film that is not afraid to get silly (one scene details what happens to Fred that feels like a scene out of a Isabel Allende novel, complete with the melodrama aesthetic) even in the face of death. While the narrative structure is solid and tight, the dialogue can feel stunted and read like its scripted and unnatural. I’m not sure if Almadovar is a fluent speaker of English or if he had a translator involved but even with Moore and Swinton at the helm, the dialogue can sometimes fall under the level of being trite or contrived. Yes, both characters are very literate (Martha is a war correspondent and is very well-read, loves Faulkner and Fitzgerald) but there are instances when the dialogue can get too pretty that it feels off.
But the visuals are exquisite. Even if it’s just two women talking, at times, Almadovar brings his camera really close to their faces, their inner worlds just bubbling under their faces. He then brings the camera back out to capture the two in a lush backdrop of nature when Martha and Ingrid take a vacation in a summer home 2 hours from the city. Life in full bloom while Martha is at her last steps and Ingrid is hoping for a change of heart.
‘The Room Next Door’ does not have the urgency or the passion of Almadovar’s older works which I love – ‘Talk to Her’ and ‘All About My Mother’ – but it has a tender heart that truly manages to capture in no uncertain terms the breadth of a human life. It’s a relatively quiet film that will charm you if you let it.
My Rating:
The Room Next Door is now showing in cinemas. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.
