Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton stunned Venice Film Festival on Monday night with the premiere of Pedro Almodóvar‘s “The Room Next Door,” which received a 17-minute standing ovation, the longest of the 2024 edition so far.
After the film ended, the Spanish auteur kissed both Swinton and Moore and lifted up their arms like champion boxers. He then descended the stairs with his new muses, prolonging the ovation by shaking hands with fans in the theater. Swinton, in a white sparkling suit, hugged Moore dressed in a gold shimmering gown. Moore looked misty-eyed as Almodóvar — in a cotton-candy pink suit — eagerly soaked in all the applause, with people chanting, “Pedro! Pedro! Pedro!”
Almodóvar seemed to be individually waving to each fan in the Sala Grande theater as the ovation became the biggest of the festival so far. He clapped as Moore clutched his arm, beaming like a proud friend. As the ovation wound down, around minute 14, Almodóvar extended the clapping by running back down the stairs from the theater’s balcony to sign autographs and take selfies with fans. Moore and Swinton laughed as they tried to gauge exactly when they should try to make their escape out of the theater.
Marking Almodóvar’s first English-language feature, “The Room Next Door” stars the two Oscar winners as Ingrid (Moore) and Martha (Swinton), who were close friends in their youth when they worked 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,” according to the film’s synopsis. “After years of being out of touch, they meet again in an extreme but strangely sweet situation.”
Moore has been a mainstay at Venice Film Festival over the years, having previously attended for Robert Altman’s 1993 drama “Short Cuts,” which won the best ensemble award at the festival; Todd Hayne’s 2002 film “Far From Heaven,” for which she won Venice’s best actress prize; 2009’s “A Single Man,” the directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford; George Clooney’s directorial effort “Suburbicon” in 2017; and as jury president in 2022.
Swinton is also a Venice best actress winner, having won in 1991 for her performance in “Edward II.” She was also at the festival alongside Moore in 2009, when Luca Guadagnino’s romantic drama “I Am Love” premiered. In 2020, Swinton received the fest’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
“The Room Next Door” is Almodóvar’s follow-up to 2021’s “Parallel Mothers,” which also bowed at Venice and scored the fest’s best actress Volpi Cup for Penelope Cruz’s performance. Almodóvar’s past projects to premiere at Venice also include 1983’s “Dark Habits”; 1988’s “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” which won the best screenplay award; and his 2020 short film “The Human Voice” starring Swinton. He received the fest’s lifetime achievement award in 2019.
After its Venice premiere, “The Room Next Door” will open in theaters Dec. 20 from Sony Pictures Classics.
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