Parallel Mothers

Movie: Parallel Mothers

Nominated for: Best Actress, Best Original Score

How I watched: Prime Early Access

When I fell asleep: No

When it had me: It got through the birth quickly

When it lost me: Final shot?

What I have to say:

This movie had me talking out loud to my TV.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Oh, no. Now what?"

"You better think this through!"

Maybe it was just my mood but apparently, I was ENGAGED. There was mystery, intrigue, mistakes, causes and lots and lots of questions about family. The whole movie is an intricate web of musings on what makes a family. There are parents absent through choice and parents absent through circumstance, there are questions of blood relation versus bonding. There are obligations to ancestors long past and resentments for the people most close to you. It was a fascinating way to delve into all manner of familial relations. 

What really had me talking though, was in addition to the theme, there was a solid, driving plot. Stuff actually happens (I can tell I've been missing that from some of the selections this year) and you find yourself constantly reassessing how you would handle these same circumstances. The acting is really strong from all the main characters. Penelope Cruz does a formidable job of showing us a person with a LOT going on under the surface. She's not broadcasting out in big ways but we feel the shifting complexities at work in her. The specifics of her inner workings are not always seen but they are felt and appreciated nonetheless.

The one head scratcher for me was a shot at the end, when an excavated grave full of skeletons turns into the film's main characters lying in the mass grave. I was sort of lost until I looked up Spanish history. Spain is experiencing a current rise in the far right political forces there which Almodovar is connecting to a dark part of history where people were disappeared in the night and buried for their politics and beliefs. It makes sense to me now and it makes me sad that this fight is ramping up all over the world, not just here at home.