The Room Next Door (2024) Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language debut comes with its strengths and limitations. It is a visceral melodrama with surreal undertones. The bright reds and greens along with its orchestral music highlight these dramatic shades in his usual style. However, the dialogues feel odd, stilted, and unnatural in many situations. Of course, they are filled with subtext and exude the emotions that he hopes to convey, but they keep viewers a step away from fully immersing in his fictional reality.

Despite those apparent shortcomings, the film is thoroughly stimulating, and filled with insightful discussions about life and death. It examines the themes of choice and autonomy on a microscopic and grander scale without resorting to any simpler one-shoe-fits-all-styled conclusions. It does so through a rekindled friendship between estranged friends, who offer each other company in trying times. Find the film’s ending explained here.

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The Room Next Door...