Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door and Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch, the two most highly-anticipated films that screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday night, are in some ways very similar: both are adaptations of novels by filmmakers who have been bringing quality films to TIFF for years, and both center on complex female protagonists played by first-rate actresses. But their receptions at the fest, and their awards prospects moving forward, couldn’t be more different.
The Room Next Door, which is Spaniard Almodóvar’s English-language feature directorial debut, came to Toronto via the Venice Film Festival, and was unveiled here just hours after the Venice jury bestowed upon the film its highest honor, the Golden Lion — which is somehow the first top prize from a major film festival that the 74-year-old auteur has ever been awarded.
Adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 novel What Are You Going Through?, the film stars two Oscar-winning heavyweights — Tilda Swinton, with whom Almodóvar previously collaborated on the 2020 short The Human Voice, and Julianne Moore, working with him for the first time — as old chums who grew apart but reconnect after Moore’s character, a bestselling author, learns that Swinton’s character, a veteran war correspondent, has received a bleak diagnosis. Their rekindled friendship is then tested by an unusual request by one of the other.
There has always been something in Almodóvar’s writing and/or direction that has elicited from his actresses some of the best work of their careers, and this film — despite some overall shortcomings that may relate to the filmmaker’s decision to venture into the English language and American culture — is no exception.
It will be interesting to see how Sony Classics — Almodóvar’s longtime U.S. distributor, which is set to release this film before the end of the year on a date still to be determined — ends up campaigning for the two women, who were — along with John Turturro, who plays a character who was a lover of both women — guests of honor at the company’s annual TIFF press dinner on Saturday night. Swinton has a particularly juicy part, or — spoiler alert — as it turns out, parts, so it’s hard for me to see her not going lead. Moore has at least as much screen time, but her character revolves around Swinton’s, so I think a case could be made for her to go lead or supporting.
Elsewhere, you should look out for the film in the category of best picture; Almodóvar for best director and best adapted screenplay; Eddie Grau’s work for best cinematography; and Alberto Iglesias’ original score (the most recent of Iglesias’ four Oscar noms came for his score of Almodóvar’s 2021 film Parallel Mothers).
Nightbitch, meanwhile, was adapted from Rachel Yoder’s 2021 book of the same name, and was directed by Heller, who previously premiered at TIFF her 2018 film Can You Ever Forgive Me? and 2019 film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (both of which went on to receive acting Oscar noms, with the former also picking up a screenplay nom). The film, which Heller says she worked on while experiencing postpartum depression after the birth of her second child, is essentially about how tough motherhood is and how resilient mothers are, as demonstrated by the experience of Amy Adams’ character, who loves her young son but increasingly — and justifiably — resents the sacrifices that she has been forced to make in order to parent him.
Nightbitch is finally reaching audiences after a long and troubled gestation, during which its story and tone appear to have been impacted. (Its unusual title, in case you were wondering, refers to a metaphor that feels strained and then gets somewhat lost in the film.) Adams, needless to say, is a tremendously gifted actress, and she does her darndest in this film, on which she also served as a producer. But, in terms of awards season, I think that this film, across the board, is going to have a hard time finding traction. It’s just a bit all over the place.
As a result, Searchlight, which is set to release it on Dec. 6, will probably focus more of its awards efforts on the two other contenders it has on its slate this season, A Real Pain and A Complete Unknown.
