Pedro Almodóvar, the Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker, is giving audiences something they've never seen before with his latest movie The Room Next Door: a fully English-language feature-length movie. In a 50-year career that has seen him become one of the leading voices in Spanish cinema (and international cinema overall), his 2024 new movie marks the first time he is making a movie entirely in English.
But aside from the language, don't expect Almodóvar to change things up too drastically. The Room Next Door still looks to have the intimate insights into relationships that the filmmaker is known for, highlighted by his sure-to-be excellent writing, as well as some gorgeous cinematography. And while we're not expecting his frequent collaborator Penelope Cruz to show up, he does have two of the best actresses in the business starring in the movie.
Find out more about that and everything else you need to know about The Room Next Door right here.
The Room Next Door release date
The Room Next Door is getting a limited release in Los Angeles and New York on December 20 before releasing everywhere in the US in January 2025. Before that, it is premiering in the UK on October 25.
That all follows much anticipated screenings at the Venice Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival throughout the fall.
The Room Next Door cast
Oscar-winners and two of the most respected actresses today, Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton are the two main cast members in The Room Next Door. Moore plays Ingrid while Swinton plays Martha, two friends who grew apart after their careers went in different directions but are brought back together.
Moore won her Oscar for Best Actress in Still Alice, but is also known for her acclaimed performances in Far From Heaven, Boogie Nights and The Kids Are All Right. Most recently she's been seen in May December and the TV series Mary & George.
Swinton claimed her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Michael Clayton. Some of her other notable credits include The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Snowpiercer and Doctor Strange and her more recent work in The Killer and Problemista. She also is starring in another potential late 2024 movie, The End.
The Room Next Door cast also features John Turturro (Severance), Alessandro Nivola (The Many Saints of Newark), Juan Diego Botto (The Suicide Squad), Raúl Arévalo (The Asunta Case), Melina Mathews (Warrior Nun) and Victoria Luengo (Red Queen).
The Room Next Door plot
As he does with all of his movies, Almodóvar wrote the screenplay for The Room Next Door, based on the novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez. Here is the official synopsis:
"Ingrid and Martha 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."
The Room Next Door trailer
We don't have an official trailer for The Room Next Door right now, but Sony Pictures Classics has released a teaser trailer for the movie. It relies just on visuals to tease audiences about the relationship of Moore and Swinton's characters and their emotional story to come. Watch directly below:
The Room Next Door reviews
Reviews are starting to come in after The Room Next Door premiered at various fall film festivals. As of September 9, The Room Next Door has a "Fresh" score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Room Next Door awards
The Room Next Door is pegged as a potential award contender for 2024, so we're keeping track of its big wins throughout the season:
Venice Film Festival
- Golden Lion (Best Film)
Pedro Almodóvar movies
Here is the full list of feature-length movies that Almodóvar has directed throughout his career:
- Folle… folle… folleme Tim! (1978)
- Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls Like Mom (1980)
- Labyrinth of Passion (1982)
- Dark Habits (1983)
- What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984)
- Matador (1986)
- Law of Desire (1987)
- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
- Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989)
- High Heels (1991)
- Kika (1993)
- The Flower of My Secret (1995)
- Live Flesh (1997)
- All About My Mother (1999)
- Talk to Her (2002)
- Bad Education (2004)
- Volver (2006)
- Broken Embraces (2009)
- The Skin I Live In (2011)
- I'm So Excited! (2013)
- Julieta (2016)
- Pain and Glory (2019)
- Parallel Mothers (2021)
Almodóvar also recently directed a much acclaimed short film, Strange Way of Life, which starred Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. The short is currently streaming on Netflix in the US and Mubi in the UK.
