Penélope Cruz was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her superb performance here as Janis, a single mother who meets and befriends a much younger woman, Ana (Milena Smit) at the maternity ward. Their babies are born on the same day, but their fates will soon diverge. And when, several months later, Janis introduces her child to the father – he cannot credit that the baby is his. Eventually Janis takes a DNA test to settle her own doubts. Meanwhile Ana suffers the hardest test of all.
More serious in tone and more overtly political than most of his work, Almodóvar’s highly acclaimed Parallel Mothers still boasts the aesthetic boldness and emotional complexity we have come to expect from him. It’s one of the best movies of the past year, no doubt.
Pedro Almodóvar
Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Rossy de Palma, Julieta Serrano
Spain
2021
In Spanish with English subtitles
Best Actress (Volpi Cup) to Penélope Cruz, Venice 2021
Geoblocked to British Columbia.
Book Tickets
Credits
Producer
Agustín Almodóvar, Esther García
Screenwriter
Pedro Almodóvar
Cinematography
José Luis Alcaine
Editor
Teresa Font
Original Music
Alberto Iglesias