By Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language feature “The Room Next Door” has set the record for applause at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
The Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton-led film premiered on Monday night to a 17-minute standing ovation, the longest of the 2024 edition so far – beating the previous number of 13 minutes held by Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist”.
Variety reports Almodóvar, in a cotton-candy pink suit, effectively prolonged the ovation by shaking hands with fans in the theater, and running around the theater signing autographs and taking selfies with fans.
The film’s stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore were on hand and reportedly were enjoying it laughing and beaming as the room called “Pedro, Pedro, Pedro”.
The ovation comes as the film, like many at the festival this year, has earned mixed critical reviews as opposed to gushing ones with ‘Room’ sitting at a 68/100 on Metacritic.
The film follows Moore and Swinton as close friends in their youth who are separated by the circumstances of life. Years later, they’re reunited when Swinton’s character is diagnosed with a terminal illness and decides to take her life into her own hands.
The film deals with euthanasia, with Almodovar making it clear at a press conference that the film is in favor of it. His home country of Spain legalized euthanasia in 2021, and he believes the rest of the world should follow.
“The Room Next Door” will open in U.S. cinemas on December 20th.
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