Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door receives a 17-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival

There was a 17 minute standing ovation

As the screening of the film ended, the cast and director stood up from their seats. The audience applauded the film with loud applause, with Pedro kissing the hands of both his leading ladies. Dressed in a pink suit, Pedro also signed autographs and greeted the audience individually while the applause continued for about 15 minutes. When it started to slow down, Pedro, Tilda and Julian finally made their way to the stage. While Julian looked dazzling in a golden gown, Tilda wore an off-white outfit.

The 17-minute standing ovation was the longest for any film at this edition of the Venice Film Festival. It was longer than Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody (12 minutes) and Pablo Larraín’s period drama Maria, starring Angelina Jolie (8 minutes). The Room Next Door is competing at the 81st edition with films such as Maria and the yet-to-be-premiered Queer and Joker: Folie à Do. The winners will be announced on September 7.

Pedro’s last Venice appearance was in 2021, where he presented the film Parallel Mothers, for which Penelope Cruz won the Best Actress award. In 2019, Venice also gave him a Lifetime Achievement Award.

About the next room

The film marks the Academy Award-winning filmmaker’s English-language debut. In the film, Julian and Tilda play estranged friends who met while on a magazine job in their youth, and whose lives took different paths. Ingrid (Julien) wrote novels. Martha (Tilda) became a war reporter. And now after years apart, they reunite in New York, when Ingrid learns that Martha has cancer and is in a nearby hospital. Over the next weeks and months, they reconnect, learning about each other’s lives and Martha’s estranged daughter through a series of revealing conversations.

Sony Pictures Classics will release The Room Next Door in theaters in December.