The Room Next Door (2024)

Successful writer "Ingrid" (Julianne Moore) is signing some books when one of her friends informs her that old pal "Martha" (Tilda Swinton) is suffering from cancer. Upon visiting her in hospital, she discovers that things aren't looking so good and over the following days the two start to become closer, sharing confidences and becoming quite inter-reliant. When an experimental treatment fails to deliver, the former war reporter "Martha" makes quite a bold proposal to her friend that will require them to retreat to a quiet residence in Woodstock where she will take matters into her own hands. Initially quite wary of this plan, "Ingrid" must decide whether or not she wishes to help - with all the moral and legal ramifications that involves, and so she turns to both of these women's ex-boyfriend "Damian" (John Turturro) for advice as she wrestles with her conscience. The concept here is really quite poignant, especially in light of reinvigorated conversations here in the UK about the rights of the terminally ill to make their own choices without fear of those they leave behind being persecuted by either the law or the zealous but I can't say I loved the presentation or the style. Far too much of the dialogue between the two women seems more aimed at filling-in the audience rather than on building a rapport between them. Things that they would have to have known about the other are presented in all too sterile a fashion, and at times I wondered if there wasn't a fair degree of dubbing going on too. Indeed, the whole thing deals with some seriously emotional issues in a remarkably sterile fashion. Both actors deliver strongly, but their dynamic isn't convincing - well, it wasn't for me, and the surfeit of verbiage rather suffocated the emotional impact the film could have made. Alex Høgh Andersen sheds his Viking leathers to remind us briefly of the ghastliness of the Vietnam war but otherwise this is largely down to the two characters dealing with a scenario we all dread, just not terribly convincingly.