This film is part of Rentals
Parallel Mothers
Almodóvar at his very best, presenting a riveting drama about two mothers from very different backgrounds whose lives become intertwined.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Overview
Janis (Penelope Cruz) is a successful and single 40-something photographer. When she suddenly discovers she’s pregnant, she decides to have the child she has always wanted. Ana (Milena Smit) is a terrified adolescent in a very different state of mind. They support each other through the experience of pregnancy, drift apart, then meet again; life not only ensures they reconnect, but their bond only gains in intensity. In its dramatic developments, Almodóvar’s perfectly executed plot is almost Shakespearean, as love, betrayal and death manifest themselves in the most unexpected ways. Cruz and Smit are electric, brilliantly conveying the traumas of parenthood and the complex relations between mothers and daughters. There’s also a terrific performance from Rossy De Palma as an outrageous magazine editor. The result is a stunning melodrama directed by a master of the form.
Related
The Wild Pear Tree The Wild Pear Tree
Drama 2018 189 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
The Chambermaid The Chambermaid
Drama 2018 102 mins Director: Lila Avilés
Lila Avilés provides an engaging, behind-closed-doors look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City’s most luxurious hotels.
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
Winter Sleep Winter Sleep
Drama 2014 197 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Modern master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Celyan’s Palme d’Or winner: an extraordinary, epic drama.
Akenfield Akenfield
Drama 1975 98 mins Director: Peter Hall
Peter Hall’s extraordinary, long-unseen work of sublime poetic realism traces three generations of one Suffolk family and their lives in the farming industry.
The Queen The Queen
Drama 2006 103 mins Director: Stephen Frears
Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her performance as the enduring monarch who comes under scrutiny following the death of Princess Diana.
Manchester by the Sea Manchester by the Sea
Drama 2016 137 mins Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams shine in this devastating, Oscar-winning drama from Kenneth Lonergan about a man’s painful hometown return.
Still Alice Still Alice
Drama 2014 102 mins Director: Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
Julianne Moore won an Oscar for her extraordinary performance as a linguistics professor diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Room Room
Thriller 2016 118 mins Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Brie Larson’s Oscar-winning performance is the beating heart of Lenny Abrahamson’s extraordinarily moving drama.
Judy Judy
Drama 2019 118 mins Director: Rupert Goold
Renée Zellweger pulls off a show-stopping performance with her BAFTA and Oscar®-winning portrayal of Judy Garland.
The Father The Father
Drama 2020 97 mins Director: Florian Zeller
Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Academy Award® for his powerful portrayal of a man dealing with the onset of dementia.
Official Competition Official Competition
Comedy 2021 115 mins Director: Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn
An eccentric filmmaker (Penélope Cruz plus eye-catching wig) takes her two leading men (Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez) on a volatile – and very entertaining - journey through the rehearsal process.
All About My Mother All About My Mother
Drama 1999 101 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Almodóvar's dazzling study of grief, motherhood and female solidarity, winner of an Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film.
Open Your Eyes Open Your Eyes
Thriller 1997 119 mins Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Alejandro Amenabar’s signature science-fiction drama follows a young man who falls for his dream woman, before he is disfigured in an accident.
Live Flesh Live Flesh
Drama 1997 97 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar’s sexy and suspenseful thriller follows the intertwining destinies of a cop (Javier Bardem) and the criminal who paralyses him.
All About My Mother All About My Mother
Drama 1999 101 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Almodóvar's dazzling study of grief, motherhood and female solidarity, winner of an Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film.
Pain and Glory Pain and Glory
Drama 2019 113 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
In one of his most personal works, Pedro Almodóvar presents a vivid portrait of a filmmaker confronting age-related anxieties.
Julieta Julieta
Drama 2016 95 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
A ravishing study of love and loss from Pedro Almodóvar, one of contemporary cinema’s great auteurs.
The Skin I Live In The Skin I Live In
Drama 2011 120 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar's excursion into hysterical horror is a perverse and unsettling drama about a disturbed surgeon who keeps a woman hostage.
Live Flesh Live Flesh
Drama 1997 97 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar’s sexy and suspenseful thriller follows the intertwining destinies of a cop (Javier Bardem) and the criminal who paralyses him.
Bad Education Bad Education
Drama 2004 101 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Film director Enrique (Fele Martínez) is visited by a man claiming to be Ignacio (Gael García Bernal), his first love.
The Wild Pear Tree The Wild Pear Tree
Drama 2018 189 mins Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s follow-up to his Palme d’Or-winning Winter Sleep is a persuasive portrait of a young writer at odds with his hometown and family.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
The Chambermaid The Chambermaid
Drama 2018 102 mins Director: Lila Avilés
Lila Avilés provides an engaging, behind-closed-doors look at the working environment of a chambermaid in one of Mexico City’s most luxurious hotels.
Anaïs in Love Anaïs in Love
Drama 2020 98 mins Director: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet
In this spirited romantic comedy, the footloose and fancy-free Anaïs (Anaïs Demoustier, The New Girlfriend) skips from one lover to the next while trying to find some direction in her life.
Crimes of the Future Crimes of the Future
Science Fiction 2022 108 mins Director: David Cronenberg
Cronenberg’s fully-fledged return to body horror and the cinema of transgression.
Wilding Wilding
Documentary 2024 75 mins Director: David Allen
A dying landscape is healed against all odds, going on to thrive in astonishing ways, in this hopeful story of ecological regeneration.