PARALLEL MOTHERS

Writer/Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Rossy de Palma, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Israel Elejalde

Despite winning an Oscar, Penélope Cruz all too often seems to go under the radar for her rich performances time and time again. Her collaborations with director Pedro Almodóvar are one for the books when you think about the all-time great director-actor partnerships. Their new film Parallel Mothers is strong film for them. Cruz plays, Janis, a photographer who is searching for some closure on her great grandfather’s burial following the Spanish Civil War. After a photo session with an archeologist, he agrees to work on her case, and their relationship is further complicated after Janis gets pregnant by him. She’s overjoyed at the notion of becoming a mother and makes friends with Ana (Smit), a teenage single mother at the same hospital. Both Janis and Ana’s story of being mothers is not what they expected as they learn devastating news altering what should be a joyous time.

Here’s my review