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Two women arrive at a lavish home in the woods. But only one will be leaving the home alive. That is the solemn undercurrent running through this scene from Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature, “The Room Next Door.”
It stars Julianne Moore as Ingrid, an author, and Tilda Swinton as Martha, a war correspondent. Martha is dying of cancer and has asked her friend Ingrid to stay with her in a secluded home she has rented to live out her final weeks.
There, they find an Edward Hopper painting, “People in the Sun,” that depicts a group of people sitting on deck chairs. This home has a similar deck chair setup, and the scene is heavy with foreshadowing as Martha takes a peaceful seat in the chair.
In discussing the scene, Almodóvar, spoke about how, from the moment the two enter the home, they are seen almost as two ghosts. He enhances that visual by filming them through reflections in windows, and through the languid, still nature of the scene overall.
Read the “Room Next Door” review.
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