Search Results for “The Room Next Door” – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR – Review by Susan Granger

February 4, 2025February 4, 2025 Susan Granger Golden Lion, julianne moore, pedro almodovar, The Room Next Door, tilda swinton

Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s first feature film in English – The Room Next Door, winner of the Golden Lion at the 81st Venice International Film Festival – revolves around mortality and euthanasia, the decision to commit suicide. Aware that her inoperable cervical cancer is terminal, Martha (Tilda Swinton), a former war correspondent estranged from her only daughter, convinces her novelist friend Ingrid (Julianne Moore) to accompany her to a a serenely peaceful rented house – in the woods of upstate New York – where she plans to take a fatal drug dose. Acquiring the lethal pill off the dark web, Martha decides to be self-determined to the end but she doesn’t want to be alone, which is why she asks Ingrid to be in the room next door, to be her witness.

Reviews

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR – Review by Diane Carson

January 10, 2025January 11, 2025 Diane Carson Alberto Iglesias, John Turturro, julianne moore, pedro almodovar, Sigrid Nunez, The Room Next Door, tilda swinton

The Room Next Door follows an ill woman preparing for death. In his debut English language film, iconic Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar faces death head on. It’s not that his earlier films have avoided the subject, but this time the narrative focuses on it. Martha, with terminal cancer, is ready to end her life and invites long-time friend, former colleague Ingrid to share her last days. Surprisingly, The Room Next Door is much more about living than dying; specifically, what makes each desirable, the freedom of life and embracing its end.

Reviews

AND SHE COULD BE NEXT – Review by Leslie Combemale

July 24, 2020July 27, 2020 Leslie Combemale 0 Comments And She Could Be Next, documentaries, Grace Lee, Lucy McBath, marjan safinia, Rashida Tlaib, Stacey Abrams, Use Ufot, Veronica Escobar

And She Could Be Next chronicles the campaigns of women of color candidates Stacey Abrams, Veronica Escobar, Lucy McBath, and Rashida Tlaib and other powerhouse women who are shaping the future with better representation in government. The expression ‘Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop’ never fit a group of people more aptly, and it’s a joy to see.

Reviews

BITTER CHRISTMAS (AMARGA NAVIDAD) – Review by Jennifer Green

March 24, 2026March 30, 2026 Jennifer Green Aitana Sánchez-Gijon, Amarga Navidad, Bitter Christmas, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Patrick Criado, pedro almodovar

Pedro Almodóvar’s Bitter Christmas is widely expected to premiere internationally at Cannes, but since its March 20 release in Spain it has sparked debate about the role of autobiography in the director’s films – and creative works in general. That is entirely the movie’s point. It’s all very meta and diverting, if you’re willing to go along for the ride. The advanced-age audience at the Madrid theater where I saw the film at an early evening screening last Friday seemed to be enjoying the ride, though I was surprised by how little they laughed. This film is lighter than others in Almodóvar’s recent oeuvre and has some comedic moments that I found very funny. It’s meta and diverting, if you’re willing to go along for the ride.

Reviews

THE FRIEND – Review by Ann Lewinson

March 18, 2025March 19, 2025 Ann Lewinson Bill Murray, Carla Gugino, constance wu, David Siegel, Naomi Watts, Noma Dumezweni, Scott McGehee, Sigrid Nunez, The Friend

Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s The Friend is an adaptation of Sigrid Nuñez’s 2018 National Book Award winner. Set in a literary Greenwich Village that seems like a mirage from an earlier era, the world that Iris (Naomi Watts) inhabits feels lived in and wholly believable. She’s a blocked novelist teaching uninspired creative writing students and living in her late father’s rent-controlled apartment off Washington Square Park. And suddenly, with the suicide of her best friend and mentor, Walter (Bill Murray), she’s saddled with his Great Dane, Apollo. And her building doesn’t allow dogs.

Lists

Opening December 16 – 27, 2024 – Margaret Barton-Fumo reports

December 15, 2024December 15, 2024 Margaret Barton-Fumo female centric films, female directed films, opening films

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists highlights movies made by and about women. With a vigilant eye toward current releases, we maintain an interactive record of films that are pertinent to our interests. Be they female-made or female-centric productions, they are films that represent a wide range of women’s stories and present complex female characters. As such, they are movies that will most likely be reviewed on AWFJ.org and will qualify for consideration for our annual EDA Awards, celebrating exceptional women working in film behind and in front of the camera.

Festivals

New York Film Festival 62 (NYFF 2024) Wrap Up – Margaret Barton-Fumo Reports

October 16, 2024October 16, 2024 Margaret Barton-Fumo All We Imagine As Light, Anora, April, dahomey, fernanda torres, Hard Truths, mati diop, Neo Sora, New York Film Festival, NYFF 2024, Payal Kapadia, Petra Costa, Transamazonia, Yeo Siew Hua

This year’s New York Film Festival boasted an impressive roster of features, with an array of talented women both behind and in front of the camera. The coveted Main Slate was stacked, with eight films directed by women and nearly as many women-centric titles directed by men. Several women directors went out on a limb, performing bold experimentations in style and genre. It is difficult to establish a theme within such a varied international festival, but in general I was taken with several women’s performances in male-directed films and by the bold choices made by many of the women directors. In either case, women are occupying center stage in a still male-dominated festival, in which the majority of the films are directed by men. It’s a promising step forward, to see so many inspiring women both in front of and behind the scenes, and one can only hope that next year will bring even more to the forefront.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK August 7, 2026: COOKIE QUEENS

August 2, 2026August 8, 2026 Jennifer Merin Alysa Nahmias, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Cookie Queens, Girl Scout Cookies, girl scouts, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, monique jones, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, Roadside Attractions

Does the sight of a girl in a brown sash (or blue or green vest) immediately make you crave Thin Mints? If so, you’re definitely not alone. But chances are you haven’t spent too much time thinking about how those cookies got into the girl’s hands — or just how many boxes of them she has to sell if she wants to go to camp next summer. Alysa Nahmias aims to change that with her engaging documentary Cookie Queens.

Festivals Reviews

SAD GIRLZ (Tribeca 2026) – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

June 12, 2026June 16, 2026 Valerie Kalfrin Darana Álvarez, Fernanda Tovar, mexican films, Rocío Guzmán, Sad Girlz, teen drama, Tribeca 2026

Sad Girlz, the moving, assured feature debut from writer-director Fernanda Tovar, captures their undeniable, believable friendship before and after trauma, with naturalistic performances from its young leads. Paula and La Maestra have an easy, affectionate bond. Both sixteen, they have other warm relationships with men in their lives, but they’re clearly each other’s anchor. How they navigate something more wrenching than they know how to handle makes Sad Girlz a delicately affecting coming-of-age story and a thoughtful exploration of how fragile and elastic some friendships can be.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK February 13, 2026: AN AMERICAN PASTORAL

February 8, 2026 Jennifer Merin An American Pastoral, Auberi Edler, betsy bozdech, book banning, Cate Marquis, documentary, jennifer merin, Kristy Moore, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, sandie angulo chen, school board election

Raw and revealing while remaining fastidiously observational, French documentarian Auberi Edler’s An American Pastoral is about the tense 2023 school board race in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, following as moderate candidates go up against a slate of far-right conservatives. In telling the story of that election, it lays bare the deep, painful divides that plague virtually every aspect of life in the United States. Edler’s camera is in the room as candidates and others express opinions on which books are and aren’t (mostly aren’t) appropriate to have in school libraries. She follows candidates as they canvas their neighbors, hoping to earn votes, and as they attend church services and other community events. She captures their (very) honest thoughts on Covid, January 6th, transgender people, the Constitution, handguns, and more. What emerges is the portrait of a town that, like the country it belongs to, is sharply split along ideological lines.

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