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.

Not top-tier Almodovar, but he fashions an unsettling, and at times, outlandish treatment on both psychological and gender identities. 

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.