Parallel Mothers
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
- drama
The story
Two unmarried women who have become pregnant by accident and are about to give birth meet in a hospital room: Janis, in her late-thirties, unrepentant and happy; Ana, a teenager, remorseful and frightened.
What it’s like
Warm saturated colour against cool, clinical whites: Almodóvar's Parallel Mothers lives in rich magentas, ochres and deep reds, with interiors dressed like stage sets and a hospital ward washed in pale fluorescent light that the film keeps returning to. Camera work is measured and fluid, favouring close two-shots in which faces hold the frame, and the score by Alberto Iglesias runs on soft strings and spare piano that swell under sorrow without ever overwhelming it. The sensory world is a Madrid of sun on balcony tiles, cigarette haze, cut flowers and the quiet hum of a photographer's studio, while the past surfaces in grainy, earth-toned flashbacks to a mass grave in the countryside. Its vibe is melodramatic but grounded, tender and quietly wry, suited to a slow weekend evening or a late-night watch with a glass of wine. The pace is unhurried, letting conversations breathe, and its emotional register moves from bright defiance toward grief and a hard-won, uneasy solidarity between two women bound by a secret. Intensity is low: there is a childbirth scene with real medical detail, a few tense confrontations and a single shocking revelation, but no gore and little overt violence beyond the historical undertow. For viewers who want emotionally serious, beautifully composed drama about motherhood, memory and the unspoken weight of the past.
More films like Parallel Mothers
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Parallel Mothers and we’ll explain which ones fit you.
