Parallel Mothers Reviews

Summary Two women, Janis and Ana, coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and became pregnant by accident. Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, an adolescent, is scared, repentant and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the...

• Drama

On the surface, Parallel Mothers is an engaging melodrama centred around a fabulous performance by Penélope Cruz. But, as is typical of Pedro Almodóvar’s movies, this easygoing, entertaining film is deeply layered, dealing with issues of personal morality and family ties, mixed with a reminder of Spain’s dark and not-so-distant fascist past.

Parallel Mothers’ twin purposes merge into something just shy of profound. It is a moment, and movie, that just might save your soul, too.

Bueno, es una película del gran Pedro Almodóvar, todo lo que hace es magnífico.

I always look forward to every Almodovar film. This is one of his best. Penelope Cruz is fantastic (again), in a story that is beautifully shot, has drama, mystery and a history lesson that is important to Spain (and the world really).

Parallel Mothers is a movie of infinite tenderness, that rare ode to motherhood that acknowledges mothers as women first and mothers second.

The film is a ghost story as well as a story of transference, which Pedro Almodóvar understands to be one in the same.

Parallel Mothers, in that way, brings a new sense of depth to Almodóvar’s gallery of fearless women – suggesting that their strength is not always by choice.

This comfortable armchair of great, old-school cinematic craft is made all the more embracing by Iglesias’s nuanced soundtrack. But we’re jolted out of that seat, and made to stand in admiration, as the film deftly weaves together two tales of removal – one maternal, the other political and historic.

There are tonal issues, awkwardly on-the-nose dialogue and plotting; the acting from leads Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit redeems matters with their expressive emotionality, and with the controlled discipline through which they put over their director’s convoluted writing.

La coincidencia, la memoria histórica y la maternidad juntos en una trama que solo alguien como Almodóvar supo hacer de ellos un coctel que al principio es un poco difícil detectar su sabor pero es innegable que resulta agridulce y al final, memorable. A ver sin falta

One of the best drama movies of 2021. Penélope Cruz gives a sublime performance and the script of the movie is original, unpredictable and full of emotion. You must to see this film.

Despite enjoying some aspects such as Penelope's performance or the varied soundtrack by Alberto Iglesias, I felt somewhat lost during the viewing of Parallel Mothers. I have not been able to connect with the central dramatic plot of the film which leaves me with a sense of indifference and that it could have been made more out of it. However, I was convinced by the historical memory related plot and I think it is undoubtedly the highlight of the film, despite its fleeting presence.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

As I have stated previously on numerous occasions, I believe the worst sin a film can commit is predictability, and writer-director Pedro Almodovar's latest is hampered by this issue almost from the outset. After a sluggish and overlong opening sequence when the picture's setup is being established, there isn't one scene in this saga about two new mothers inextricably linked by their shared birth experiences that can't be seen coming from a mile away. The soap operatic tone and swirling overdramatic music accompanying its alleged "revelations" come across like feeble attempts at compensating for this shortcoming, but they're not enough to cover what can easily be seen from a distance. On top of this, the film's attempt at pairing this story thread with another that's almost entirely unrelated (save for some forced parallels involving ancestry and bloodline accuracy) makes for an especially odd mix (particularly since the secondary arc is actually more interesting than the first). Add to all that a wealth of needless padding brought on by excessive incidental dialogue and superfluous images, and you've got a movie that frequently drags in getting on with the story. In fact, about the only element that kept me invested in this release was the fine Oscar-nominated performance of Penelope Cruz, one of the few genuine assets this offering has going for it. Some have suggested that the director may be past his prime at this point in his career, and, based on this and his other two most recent works, "Julieta" (2016) and "Pain and Glory" (2019), I'd regrettably have to concur. This forgettable release is one that's easily skipped.