Parallel Mothers

One major thing I love from Almodovar is the aesthetic, which this film does not fail to deliver with its joyous colour palette as we join two mothers who become bonded in ways they could never imagine from the initial sharing of a maternity room. Another is the emotional journey he always takes us on via both comedy and drama. In other directors hands, navigating the threads of decades which this film delivers could become unwieldly, but this is a beautiful dance. It would be amiss to not also mention Penelope Crus, who gives arguably one of her best performances, radiating warmth despite her characters obvious flaws. It is clear why Almodovar works with her time and time again, and this is truly a dream team.

96% – Rotten Tomatoes

7.1 / 10 – IMDB

“nothing about Parallel Mothers suggests that, at the age of 72, Almodóvar is too comfortable with his own mastery of the form. Perhaps a little of the old transgressiveness is gone, but it’s left room instead for a more deeply rooted fervour.”

“After decades of collective suppression, it wasn’t until 2007 that Spain’s Law of Historical Memory finally began the process of reckoning and resolution. Part of that process has involved the identifying and exhuming of mass graves. Janice is the daughter of a single mother, who in turn was the daughter of a single mother, whose husband was taken out in the night and shot.”