In The Room Next Door, writer-director Pedro Almodóvar builds upon his feminocentric repertoire with some beautiful performances from Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore.

The Spanish auteur speaks to EW about casting his leading stars ("they were my first choice") and mining mortality in his first English-language feature film.

Art buffs are lapping up the Bloomsbury Group references in the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s latest film The Room Next Door, starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.

The only surprising thing about Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton playing lifelong friends is that it didn’t happen earlier. Both turn 64 this fall and have children around the same age. Both broke through in the fertile indie movie scene of the 1980s and ’90s and have gone on to work prolifically ever since,