A new film by Pedro Almodóvar is always a cause for celebration, and when it stars Penelope Cruz it’s time to bring out the fireworks. Almodóvar’s spectacular melodrama about two women, strangers, who meet in a Madrid maternity ward, and after giving birth, become single mothers at the same time. Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in these hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance develops and complicates, and changes their lives in a decisive way.
“The central plot of Parallel Mothers is vintage Almodóvar: a skein of reversals, revelations, surprises and coincidences unraveled with style, wit and feeling.” — A.O. Scott, New York Times
“Everything here is connected and the story flows and flows, achieving a breathless momentum that reveals its intricate design only in retrospect.” — Justin Chang , Los Angeles Times
directed by
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar
written by
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar
with
Penélope Cruz, Rossy de Palma, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
Penélope Cruz, Rossy de Palma, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
language
Spanish
Spanish
country
Spain, France
Spain, France