Sony Pictures Classics
It is one my shortcomings as a film watcher that I have barely seen any of the films of Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, but I think I have seen Volver, although my memory of that isn’t great. Still, it is always interesting to see the multiple threads and themes he introduces in his films, along with his frequent collaborators like ageless beauty Penélope Cruz, who has been in seven of his movies. Here we see one that again puts her front and center.
Parallel Mothers is written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and it has two big themes: one of parents of the past, and one of parents of the future. We start by following Janis (Penélope Cruz) who is trying to excavate the grave of people killed by the fascists during the Spanish Civil War. This is the wrapper of the past, the subtle throughline that only is hinted at until the film concludes.
But the plot of the movie starts when Janis hooks up with the handsome (if married) forensic anthropologist Arturo (Israel Elejalde) and the movie neatly ‘smash’ cuts to her very pregnant in the hospital, nearly about to give birth. This is the first of many time jumps, which is jarring at first, but eventually feels well balanced and paced. Janis happens to share a room with young teen mother Ana (Milena Smit), and they connect over their circumstances, both accidents.
Of course, Ana is terrified and doesn’t really want the baby, while Janis feels like it was a last chance to have a child closer to 40, and offers comfort to the younger woman. After the birth, Janis actually gives Ana her phone number, although it is at the time perhaps a token gesture. But more complications begin to emerge as we see things get more complicated.
Janis and Arturo don’t exactly have the most healthy relationship, given that it’s an affair and they’re working together, but Arturo’s demands for a paternity test push Janis away. At the same time, Ana is not well treated by her parents — her father (only ever heard on the phone) is in another city and is very displeased, while Ana’s mother Teresa (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) is a self-absorbed wannabe actress who prioritizes her suddenly burgeoning career over helping raise her grandchild.
This is just the start though, as the movie continues to twist and turn, as the two mothers’ lives intertwine the other in more and more fascinating ways. Secrets and lies may arise, and changes are ever present, but throughout there’s a constant thought of what it means to be a parent and to be there for your children — reminding us of the parents that sacrificed themselves for the sake of their children, as in the Civil War.
The two lead actresses are both excellent here, with Penélope Cruz as good as she’s ever been, multifaceted and often emotionally resonant, with great chemistry with everyone. I haven’t seen Milena Smit in anything I can recall, but she was really affecting here too, going through the few years we see of her own arc as a young girl out of her depth to something else.
The particulars of the story are more entertaining if I don’t spoil them, so I’ll simply say that they go in pretty fun directions — it’s overall a great movie, a different sort of drama than you might expect, but one that does go interesting places and keeps you invested all the way through.
Want to see Parallel Mothers and judge for yourself? Click below to see the movie, and be sure to come back and tell us what you thought!
Parallel Mothers has a run time of 2 hours 3 minutes and is rated R for some sexuality.
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