Venice 2024: Almodóvar’s first major festival win is richly deserved – and epically overdue

At 74, Spain's finest director has won the Golden Lion - incredibly, his first major victory at a film festival - for his debut English language feature. Better late than never, even if The Room Next Door isn't quite his finest work

Pedro Almodovar's The Room Next Door is a tender, heartfelt drama about a driven former war correspondent who's in search of the perfect final scene. She wants an ending that she can script and control, and a handpicked loving audience to applaud her when she goes.

As played by Tilda Swinton, the heroine doesn't have it entirely her own way. But the film itself has fared rather better. It bowed out in a blaze of glory and scooped the crowning Golden Lion award in the dying seconds of this year's Venice film festival.