Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar returned to the Venice Film Festival with stars Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore. Their film, The Room Next Door, had its world premiere on the Lido Monday evening, where it received a standing ovation for a staggering 17 minutes, the longest for any film in this edition, as per Variety.

17-minute standing ovation

As the screening of the film concluded, the cast and the director got up from their seats. Pedro kissed the hands of both his leading ladies as the audience lauded the film with a thunderous applause. Pedro, beaming in a pink suit, even signed autographs and greeted members of the audience personally while the applause continued for a good 15 minutes. When it began to fade, Pedro, Tilda, and Julianne finally made their way to the stage. While Julianne looked radiant in a golden gown, Tilda wore an off-white attire.

The 17-minute standing ovation was the longest for any film at this edition of the Venice Film Festival. It was higher than that of Brady Corbet's The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody (12 minutes), and Pablo Larrain's period drama Maria, starring Angelina Jolie (8 minutes). The Room Next Door is playing in competition at the 81st edition alongside the likes of Maria, and the yet-to-premiere Queer and Joker: Folie à Deux. 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 its best actress prize. In 2019, Venice also gave him a lifetime achievement award.

About The Room Next Door

The film marks the Academy Award-winning filmmaker's English language debut. In the movie, Julianne and Tilda play disconnected friends, who met in their youths at a magazine job, and whose lives took different paths. Ingrid (Julianne) wrote novels. Martha (Tilda) became a war reporter. And now after years apart, they meet again, in New York, when Ingrid finds out Martha has cancer and is in a nearby hospital. Over the next weeks and months, they reconnect, learning about one another's lives and Martha's estranged daughter through a series of revealing conversations.

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

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