The Room Next Door
The Room Next Door
6.880%76%
Ingrid (Julianne Moore) and Martha (Tilda Swinton) were close friends in their youth, when they worked together at the same magazine. Ingrid went on to become an autofiction novelist while Martha became a war reporter, and they were separated by the circumstances of life. After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.
Desmond Dale reviewedJanuary 24, 2025
I didn't love the score and found it often to be a a bit invasive and ill-fitting for the tone of several scenes, but that's the sole significant flaw. It's been absolutely mindblowing to witness such well seasoned directors like Scorsese and Pedro still putting out such compelling, thought provoking works. While Megalopolis garnered all of the headlines as Francis Coppola's potential swan song, Pedro put out a film that could easily serve as his own, though I'm hopeful that's not the case. The dialogue relentlessly pursues the most stirring and poignant questions relating to our mortality and the options we have in dealing with it in a freedom stricken society.
Tilda's character conveys a self awareness and honesty that feels like Pedro baring his aging soul to the audience. Julianne Moore's maternal like care for her friend and ability to empathize are indicative of Pedro's ideal euthanasia sitter. Even posthumously, the protagonist's defiant affirmation of love and beauty lives on the through the people and things she's touched.