I arrived at this film expecting little but a fleshed-out - pun intended - simple-minded lesbian drama. How wrong, I am pleased to say, I was. Room in Rome is not only the story of two girls who meet one evening and then stay together for one night only, never to see each other again, but it is the story of what each one of us truly wants in our love and sex lives. Something new, fresh, exciting and personal. Room in Rome presents the story of two girls who share their life stories and physical intimacies one night before realising, against their fantasies, that the cruel fate of reality means they must go back to their partners and real lives the next day. But what makes the film so special, so tangible, is the sense of honesty it awakens in each of us. Those in long-term relationships know all too well that the more time goes on, the less there is to discover. This film is all about discovery: discovery of each other, discovery of sensuality, discovery of oneself. In long-term relationships, discovery is the ultimate fantasy, and one which is so often lacking. In Room in Rome, the two girls discover an attraction for one another which is based on the longings and lackings in their own lives. The film is split into two physical and psychological areas - the bedroom and the bathroom - and the balcony which acts as a transition area between the two rooms and the two mental states. The bedroom is where the magic happens. It is close, low-lit and sensual. It is where both girls open up to each other personally and sexually. It is all about them, no room for anyone else, as exemplified by the close-up shots, their consistent closeness and nakedness. When the good-looking (objectively) room servicer Max asks for a threesome, he gets refused. There is literally no room for him. This is all about them. When the morning light hits, the two breakfast outside before moving into the white clinical area of the bathroom, which cleanses the fantasy from their bodies and minds. Indeed, when either enter this area, it's as if they come to their senses and the fantasy is left elsewhere. In the morning, they realise they must go to their respective lives. They hold each other in the bath longingly against the sterile white of the tiles as the camera indulges in long shots, few of which we see in the bedroom, emphasising the foreshadowing of emotional and physical distance. Natasha talks of dressing in white, like the dressing gown she often dons, and white becomes a signifier for wiping clean her experiences, but also denying herself. She spends the entire film in denial whereas Alba spends it mostly being true to herself, but mostly wanting.Room in Rome is not so much of a sexual film - or an erotic film - but a sensual one. It explores the depth of the senses in a physical and emotional way, and emphasises the necessities of listening to one's emotions in spite of the routines that one finds oneself in and the pits of long-term relationships that solidify our lives. It is up to us to make the latter more like the former and the former less like the latter. For those of us who HAVE spent nights in hotels like those in Room in Rome, we know how special they were. But did they endure - and did those relationships endure? Most of them didn't. What Room in Rome shows us, or reminds us, is what we really want in our sex/sense lives: newness, discovery, excitement, intimacy. But we still want stability - and therein lies the challenge of our relationships, to balance the two. And maybe if we can balance these, then we can have something which endures - unlike that which these two girls unfortunately, and so commonly, left behind.

This is a film with a beautifully simple narrative arc, all focused on one night and one space. An experienced lesbian seduces a novice...they spend a night in a room in Rome where their naked physicality merges with Renaissance art in a small world that is transformed through loving a stranger....all the makings of another homo-erotic love tale with high-brow artistic flourishes and a haunting musical score to carry the story to the high watermark. But this film genuinely cuts new ground: it is full of surprises, twists, and exquisitely painful turns. The acting is playful, vibrant, and the interactions erotically natural, giving the film a power not found in the genre factories. Definitely on my short list of all-time favourite films.

As I said in my title I am a gay guy and thought this movie was just beautiful ! So for all the people who said it was only for lesbians and straight guys - it's not. It goes back to the old adage that love is love no matter what.It has a lovely atmosphere and being mainly filmed in a hotel room gave it a surrealism and a closeness and an intimacy. Constantly shadowy and the use of autumnal hues added to that.The sex is warm and intimate and is perfectly in context and not over the top or voyeuristic.So sit back and lose yourself in two women's discovery of their sensuality and getting to know more and more about one another till you develop an empathy for them.Well written and beautifully acted, 7 out of 10I Enjoyed this film immensely.

I think Habitación en Roma can provoke a divisive effect on the audience: some people will take it as a delicate and sensual tale about intimacy, personal reflection and sexual identity; and other ones will take it as a pretentious erotic drama whose only purpose is exploiting the morbidity under the disguise of "art". Personally, I incline to the former, because even though I wouldn't consider Habitación en Roma a great film, I liked it pretty much mainly because of its deep screenplay and extraordinary performances.On some way, Habitación en Roma belongs to the same type of films such as My Dinner with Andre, Tape and Before Sunrise, which were all dedicated to a long conversation which gets us hooked on its twists and surprises while we unravel the characters' enigma. In fact, I took the runaway sexuality and the constant nudity from the main actresses in Habitación en Roma as an analogy of the emotional "discovery" which impulses the screenplay, in which the physical intimacy is just a preamble of the emotional intimacy the main characters end up sharing at the end of the film.And then we have the brilliant performances from Elena Anaya and Natasha Yarovenko, who both bring a devastating energy and sincerity to their characters. The main reason why it was very easy for me to accept the premise from this film is because Anaya and Yarovenko took such a possession of their characters that they totally become them.And I would also like to mention the perfect manufacture from Habitación en Roma; the cinematography is fantastic, the production design possesses such a warmth and detail that it brings the almost amniotic setting of the room to life; and the music complements and underlines the characters' emotional evolution. On the negative side, there are a few moments which feel kinda forced, and I think some aspects could have been a bit deepened. Nevertheless, Habitación en Roma is a very good film because of its generally solid screenplay, great performances and emotional resonance. I recommend it, but with the warning that you have to make an effort in order to see beyond the "softcore" and find the many interesting subjects explored by this film. But even those ones who simply want to see two attractive actresses naked during most of the movie, yes...they will also be left satisfied. But maybe not as much as the other ones.