“His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe…” The beloved Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is back once again at the 2024 Venice Film Festival with his latest feature film titled The Room Next Door. Officially it is his first-ever entirely English-language feature-length film (though his two shorts recently The Human Voice and Strange Way of Life were also English). This doesn’t really change much except that his usual exceptionally fast Spanish dialogue has been replaced by somewhat slower English dialogue. Though when that dialogue is spoken by two irrefutable masters of acting, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, there’s really nothing to worry about. They each know how to handle their roles precisely and gracefully, taking us along on an endearing story starring as two old friends. The Room Next Door is actually quite different from many of Almodóvar’s previous films, which is why many viewers won’t be into as much, while others may find themselves more connected with what he has come up with this time. // Continue Reading ›
