A piece of paper comes into view with one word written on it: “Goodbye.” And so the renowned Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar begins his upcoming film. The room next doorhis first feature film in English. In the first trailer, which is released on August 20, no one says a word, but you hear a sound: Tilda Swinton screaming as she rummages through a small metal briefcase. Yes, you can tell the scream isn’t in Spanish, as it’s so harsh and Germanic in origin. The film stars Swinton and Julianne Moore, a wonderful duo who are experts at portraying two very different versions of “fragile.” They play former friends Ingrid (Moore), an autofiction writer, and Martha (Swinton), a war reporter, who find themselves “in an extreme but strangely sweet situation,” according to the film’s press release. What kind of situation could that be? We’re guessing an explosion at the red lipstick factory.
The film is based on the 2020 novel What are you going throughby Sigrid Nunez. In addition to the two actresses with a capital A, John Turturro and Alessandro Nivola also star. The room next door will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which begins on August 28, where it will be in competition, but for the rest of us it won’t be in theaters until December 20. Still, the date makes sense, because having Moore and Swinton star in an Almodóvar film is the greatest Christmas present of all.
