Sapphics are obsessed with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton’s red carpet relationship
Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton star in new film The Room Next Door. (Getty)
There’s an abundance of buzz around Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore’s new film The Room Next Door, and it’s not just because of the 18-minute standing ovation it received at Venice Film Festival.
The new movie from Strange Way of Life director Pedro Almodóvar stars We Need To Talk About Kevin’s Tilda Swinton and Mary & George actress Julianne Moore as former friends who reconnect in the months leading up to one of their deaths.
Almodóvar’s “gorgeous” new melodrama sees Swinton play Martha, a dogged former war correspondent and troubled mother who has now been diagnosed with cervical cancer.
As she approaches the end of her life, she reaches out to a friend she once held close: Moore’s Ingrid, a woman who has since become an acclaimed author since they lost contact.
When Martha asks Ingrid to be by her side when she undergoes euthanasia in the New York town of Woodstock, the pained questions of what it means to live and what it means to die fill the room in which the pair stay.
After premiering at the Venice Film Festival yesterday (2 September), the film received a staggering, festival-best 18-minute standing ovation from the crowd. Expect Oscar buzz aplenty.
Yet for queer women with X/Twitter accounts, the biggest fuss caused by The Room Next Door relates to the way Swinton and Moore have been hanging out on the festival’s red carpet.
The duo dazzled as they walked down the red carpet hand in hand, with Moore joyously leaning in and giving Swinton a kiss on the cheek.
Then, during the startlingly lengthy applause, the pair continued their public displays of appreciation with Swinton wrapping her arm around Moore’s waist and giving her a hug.
Of course, sapphic film super fans are anything but OK, with some questioning, in jest, whether the acting titans are an item.
“Whatever Julianne and Tilda have going on,” wrote one fan, sharing two photos of the pair smiling and holding each other’s hands.
“My aunt and her roommate of 30 years,” joked a second.
A third added: “Okay, we get it. Wives.”
Though Swinton has previously mentioned “always” feeling queer, she has clarified that she means in the “odd” sense rather than in regards to her sexual orientation. She has been in a relationship with artist Sandro Kopp for 20 years.
Moore has previously played several queer roles, including Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham in Mary & George alongside Nicholas Galtizine, and lesbian police officer Laurel Hester in Freeheld, alongside Elliot Page. However, Moore has been in a relationship with director Bart Freundlich since 1996.
The Room Next Door has garnered critical favour since its premiere yesterday. It will be released in UK cinemas on 25 October.
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