Pedro Almodóvar is one of my all-time favorite directors, a true master of blending camp, melodrama, and big emotions. He’s one of the most celebrated LGBTQ+ directors working today and I’ve always wanted to challenge myself to watch his entire filmography. What I love about his films are the colors, the strange-yet-normal situations, and the way campy melodrama somehow makes serious topics hit even harder.
Parallel Mothers (2021)
Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit
Summary: Two women give birth on the same day, and their lives get tangled thanks to a hospital mix-up. At the same time, one of them is investigating unmarked graves of her townspeople from the Spanish Civil War.
The tea: This film isn’t just about melodrama or shocking plot twists, it’s about history, memory, motherhood, and how personal trauma echoes political trauma.
Where to stream: YouTube, Prime Video, Philo, Apple TV
I finally caught Parallel Mothers on a plane, not exactly a Criterion theater setup, but it was worth it. The film balances melodrama, desire, and political history in classic Almodóvar style, offering both campy fun and profound emotional resonance.
The Story (Spoilers Ahead)
We open with Janis (Penélope Cruz), a photographer trying to locate unmarked graves from the Spanish Civil War. Heavy and political, yes but then suddenly, we’re in a maternity ward. We meet Ana (Milena Smit), Janis’s hospital roommate, whose backstory is filled with family tension and dark circumstances. All delivered in that Almodóvar way where shocking news drops like casual gossip.
Their intertwined fates serve as both intimate melodrama and social allegory. We eventually learn their children were swapped in a hospital mix-up, confirmed by DNA, and the eventual revelation that Janis’s daughter is actually Ana’s. Almodóvar uses these plot twists not merely for shock value, but to explore questions of trust, attachment, and resilience.
Cruz is perfection as Janis, graceful, complicated, and quietly devastating. Milena Smit’s Ana transforms before our eyes, from dependent and uncertain to resilient and active. Their chemistry is unexpected and messy, a testament to Almodóvar’s gift as an LGBTQ+ director who knows how to navigate intimacy and identity with nuance.
History, Trauma, and the Bigger Picture
What makes Parallel Mothers exceptional is how the personal drama mirrors Spain’s history. Janis’s work exhuming unmarked graves serves as a powerful visual and thematic metaphor: personal and political histories, hidden and suppressed, eventually demand recognition. The film’s emotional arcs mirror Spain’s reckoning with the Civil War, and Eduardo Galeano’s quotation: “No history is mute. No matter how much they burn it, break it, and lie about it, human history refuses to shut its mouth,” feels almost built into the narrative structure itself.
The juxtaposition of intimate maternal drama and public historical memory reinforces Almodóvar’s ongoing fascination with the interplay between desire, secrecy, and societal pressure.
Final Thoughts
Parallel Mothers is messy, colorful, emotional, and completely unmissable. This film stands out as a landmark LGBTQ+ film about women, motherhood, and history.
Have you seen Parallel Mothers? How do you think Almodóvar uses melodrama to reflect historical and personal trauma? Which other LGBTQ+ films do you think pull this off as brilliantly? Let’s chat about it on Threads or BlueSky!
Film stills and promotional images are the property of their respective copyright holders. Used here under fair use for commentary and review. All opinions and takes are my own.
