Friendships between women have been said to be qualitatively different from friendships between men. This episode of The Hollywood Beat looks at female friendships in two films, One of Them Days and The Room Next Door, that span wildly divergent genre —madcap comedy and heart-rending drama.
One of Them Days is a lively female buddy film starring Keke Palmer and SZA. In this film, Keke Palmer’s character, Dreux, and SZA’s character, Alyssa, are roommates facing a financial dilemma. With their rent due at $1,500 and their funds gone, they embark on a series of comedic and heartfelt adventures to solve their problem. The movie showcases the chemistry between the leads and highlights SZA’s acting debut, adding an extra layer of excitement for fans. It’s a fun watch, full of humor and heart!
In The Room Next Door, Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar makes his English-language debut with the quiet grace of a seasoned storyteller and the emotional precision of a poet. Based on Sigrid Nunez’s 2020 novel What Are You Going Through, the film explores the intimate, complex terrain of friendship, mortality, and the deeply personal right to die with dignity.
Tilda Swinton delivers a beautifully restrained performance as Martha, a former war correspondent now facing a final battle — terminal cancer. She reaches out to an old friend, Ingrid (Julianne Moore), a successful author she hasn’t seen in years. Their shared history at a magazine once bound them; now, it’s a quiet country house that becomes the setting for their final reconnection. Martha has invited Ingrid not just to keep her company, but to quite literally sleep in the room next door as she prepares for the end of her life.
Swinton and Moore, both Oscar winners, bring a raw honesty to their roles, with performances that are understated yet profoundly moving. Almodóvar’s direction is characteristically tender and visually lyrical, painting the film in soft light and silence, allowing space for the audience to sit with the characters’ pain, humor, and humanity.
More than a drama about illness, The Room Next Door is a meditation on autonomy, love, and the boundaries of compassion. It raises difficult, timely questions: Do we own our lives — and our deaths? What does it mean to accompany someone to the edge?
Beautifully acted and deeply felt, The Room Next Door is a quiet triumph — a film that lingers like a whispered goodbye. Hear Reba Merrill and Tandy Culpepper review both films in this episode of The Hollywood Beat.
