Almodovar’s first English-language feature doesn’t quite strike gold, but Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore give riveting performances as two friends who haven’t seen each other for a long time, exploring themes of mortality and morality.
A mid-tier Almodovar as he weaves a story of mothers and babies against a dark national history—it doesn’t always find a sure footing in terms of tone and theme, but the indelible performances and the auteur’s knack for creating suspense out of melodrama do help.
Almodovar’s Stockholm syndrome drama will probably be cancelled if made today, but while it isn’t a home run by his provocative standards, it features two impressionable performances by Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril.
Not top-tier Almodovar, but he fashions an unsettling, and at times, outlandish treatment on both psychological and gender identities.
Continue reading →Possibly Almodovar’s most personal film to date, this is a bittersweet ode to how cinema has changed his life and the burdens and regrets he still carries—through an alter ego as played by a sublime Antonio Banderas.
Continue reading →The film that launched Almodovar internationally as an auteur is a tragicomic screwball farce whose effortless execution is as impressive as it is sublime.
Continue reading →This is one of the highest peaks of Almodovar’s career, an exquisite work about women and grief, yet with his assured touch, it all seems so life-affirming and universal.
Continue reading →A minor mystery-esque work by Almodovar, spellbinding and sensually-crafted at times, but marred by a weak denouement.
Continue reading →A respectable effort by Almodovar that balances melodrama with the mystery-thriller.
Continue reading →Almodovar handles with dexterity a range of emotions in this intriguingly-structured drama.
Eternality Tan 