Parallel Mothers - Movie Review

Critics Score - 7 of 10

General Audience Score - 7 of 10

Pedro Almodóvar is a self-taught Spanish writer/director that’s been making movies since the 1970’s. He started making short films before writing and directing his first full length feature in 1980, and since then he’s won many awards from the Oscars and the British Academy of Film and TV Arts (BAFTA). While his films remain unknown to many general audiences, as he mainly films in the Spanish language, his films have wide appeal, including his latest work Parallel Mothers. Almodóvar shows great proficiency behind the camera, which you’d expect after such a long career, and his films enjoy a similar visual aesthetic style. But the emotional resonance many of his films are able to achieve higher levels of success with, just aren’t fully at work in Parallel Mothers. While the story is well crafted and engaging, Cruz and Smit are both excellent, but you can get a good feel for where things are headed early on and at just over a two hour runtime, the film drags it’s feet a bit getting where we expect it to go. Overall watching these Mothers provides a really good film experience that many can enjoy but this film just doesn’t Parallel some of the other wonderful work we have from Almodóvar.

SYNOPSIS - This tale of parenthood starts with Arturo (Israel Elejalde) who works for the government getting his picture taken by Janis (Penelope Cruz). She asks to speak to him for a minute after the shoot is over, we then see them walking and Janis inquires about the excavation of a gravesite where her great-grandfather is buried. Before long their relationship becomes intimate and the next scene we see Janis is in the delivery room with another young mother, Ana (Milena Smit), preparing for childbirth. Janis and Ana bond through the experience of giving birth and they exchange numbers before leaving the hospital with their newborn daughters. Although Arturo and Janis aren’t exactly together, Arturo stops by to visit his daughter, but when he doesn’t see any of his features in the child, he asks about getting a paternity test. This thought is a seed that plants itself into Janis’ brain and sets the wheels in motion for a series of events that will forever change the course of these characters lives.

Once the wheels have stopped turning because this vehicle has careened into a chasm and smashed into a fireball at the bottom, we’ve been on journey that mildly twists and turns to a less than grand finale. As I mentioned, Cruz is brilliant and her supporting actors are all very well cast in collectively conveying the complex emotions arising from such a volatile situation. The original score is excellent and although a bit on the subtle side, works wonders in trying to amplify the emotional stakes the film is trying to sell us on. Almodóvar is also doing some good work behind the camera, his vision is clear, the visual styling precise and he’s getting across the exact story he means to tell. Except the screenwriting is the biggest problem with the film, the formula he’s using to tug at our emotional heart strings feels more contrived that many of his other efforts. While there’s lots to enjoy with Parallel Mothers, there’s a bit we’re left wanting when we walk away after our time with them.

SUMMARY - While the core of the film is built on the characters and their relationships, which are all well written and acted, the dilemmas that ensue steer the film into the range of predictable and forced melodrama. Almodóvar is an excellent director and his skills as one propel this film forward, but the story of these Parallel Mothers just doesn’t pack the emotional punch we’re hoping for.