Great knits – shame about the film: Almodovar’s The Room Next Door reviewed

The Room Next Door is Pedro Almodovar’s first film in the English language and if it is his last we can probably live with that. The film, which is adapted from a novel by Sigrid Nunez, stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, who are terrific whatever they do, and it is aesthetically divine (the knitwear, in particular, is sensational). But dramatically it’s thin gruel. The subject matter is euthanasia, so you’d expect Almodovar to hold back on his usual flamboyant playfulness, bounciness and humour. But what is there to care about? Why do these two women matter? Where is that knitwear from? Spoiler alert: no answers are forthcoming.

Moore plays Ingrid, a successful author who reconnects with her old pal, Martha (Swinton). They haven’t been in touch for years, although we are never told why. Martha, a war reporter – always a war reporter, never a fishmonger – has stage three cervical cancer and has run out of treatment options.