Brutalism in film: the beautiful house that forms the backdrop to The Room Next Door

For his first-ever feature-length film in English, legendary Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar creates a powerhouse pairing, with Tilda Swinton and former Wallpaper* Design Awards judge Julianne Moore playing the two leads. But there is a third star, the beautiful brutalist house that forms the backdrop to the majority of the movie.

The Room Next Door tells the story of a journalist dying of cancer who calls on an old friend to be with her when she ends her life (in the room next door). The two have not seen each other in a long time, but shift from Manhattan to a rented modernist house in upstate New York to prepare for death. The location house, Casa Szoke, is actually in Spain, located on the southern slope of Monte Abantos, near El Escorial, an hour’s drive from Madrid. Designed by Madrid-based studio Aranguren + Gallegos, who took inspiration from Le Corbusier’s box-like creations, it consists of a series of interconnected angular volumes in glass and corten steel, which nestle in a pine forest landscape.

We talked to the film’s Israeli-born, New York-based production designer Inbal Weinberg, whose previous work includes Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 remake of Suspiria. The sombre mood of the film, and the contemplative nature of its subject matter, was a guiding hand in the creation of the set design. ‘The connecting thread is Pedro's interest in elevated aesthetics,’ says Weinberg. ‘He has an innate sense of beauty and a particular appreciation for craft, which is apparent in every shot.’

The relocation to the upstate house marks the dawning of a new intimacy between the two women, with the site subtly setting the scene for the serious conversations to follow. ‘There's something about modernist homes that radiates calm, rationality, simplicity and appreciation for the environment. Specifically in our film, the idea of the space as a last respite, a place for both illness and healing, connected with the modernist sensitivity,’ says Weinberg. ‘With Casa Szoke, we appreciated the play between built volume, the human form, and nature. We liked the juxtaposition of linear planes and nature's curves, and the tension in the angular windows. The diagonal lines provided a sense of drama that highlighted the complex dynamics between the two characters, and the high stakes of their stay.’

Weinberg emphasises the importance of focusing on the people that inhabit the spaces within the films, of imagining their worlds. ‘As a production designer, you're constantly moving between a wide array of projects, from gritty realistic dramas to opulent period pieces to superhero blockbusters. You can't go wrong if you concentrate on the characters, and let them dictate their environments. We paid close attention to every prop. Pedro is very discerning when it comes to details, and he made sure that every piece of art, book and decorative element was curated. We had a rich mood board of references, from homes of real people that we met in New York to designers' pieces fresh from the latest design magazines. Pedro always lent his personal taste (and artefacts) as a finishing touch.’

The Room Next Door is on general release from 25 October 2024, warnerbros.com
Book at odeon.co.uk