Golden Lion of the last Venice Festival, Pedro Almodovar's new film is adapted from the eponymous novel by Sigrid Nunez, and constitutes a disturbing plea in favor of euthanasia and in any case the right to die with dignity. After a few scenes between the hospital and Martha's apartment (sick with cancer and having exhausted all possible experimental treatments), Almodovar immerses us in the house that she rented for a month, near Woodstock in in the middle of the forest, hoping to spend a few peaceful moments with her friend Ingrid (writer), before choosing to pass away. Ingrid will therefore be this person, lost for a while, who will stay in the “next door room”, watching every morning with more and more feverishness to see if Martha’s room has remained closed or not.
In the end it is this witness character, the one played with empathy by Julianne Moore, who will ultimately be able to transcend the situation through her own words. But this is the actress that Almodovar had already used for his short film.The Human Voice“, Tilda Swinton, who will give full weight to the words, the structure of the story gradually excluding secondary characters taking up little space (the sports coach, the former lover, the narrow-minded cop, etc.), thus giving a rich text all its amplitude Of course the artistic direction is as always perfect, with its marriages and contrasts of strong colors, offering the exchanges between the two women a cushioned setting, as well as a warm setting to question the part of truth in what. perceives Ingrid, who will be remembered as a novelist.
In this particular film, it is the questions about death and two very divergent approaches to the end of life which will face each other and manage to dialogue little by little, through peaceful words. Because outside this place, as the end of the film reminds us, rigid morality and the weight of religion are felt, as the conclusion reminds us. There remains a new great acting number for Tilda Swinton, who plays here not only Martha, in her doubts and regrets, but also her daughter Michelle, with the inevitably disturbing resemblance. Very cerebral,”The Next room” oscillates intelligently between drama and thriller, limiting the emotion somewhat, but confirming the intimate nature of the choice made here.
Olivier BachelardSend a message to the editor
