Iconic Spanish writer/director Pedro Almodovar follows up his Oscar-nominated self-portrait, Pain and Glory, with a story connecting historical tragedy to modern motherhood.
Parallel Mothers followsa photographer named Janis (Penelope Cruz) who is deeply connected to her family scarred from the Spanish Civil War. Her grandfather was one of the many men taken, killed and buried in mass graves during the War. Her family, along with many others have been left devastated; continually searching for their loved ones so they can get a proper burial.
In the hopes to find her grandfather, Janis works with an anthropologist named Arturo (Israel Elejalde) on an excavation project — but their relationship takes an unexpected turn as romantic feelings result in an unplanned pregnancy leaving Janis as a single mother. During her pregnancy she encounters another single mother named Ana (Milena Smit) who’s in a similar situation and the two begin a caring, but complicated relationship.
The performances from Cruz and Smit absolutely drive Parallel Mothers with the complexity and care they bring to their respective roles. Smit delivers a breakout performance that tugs at the heartstrings because of the with the tragedy her character faces. Ana is a character unfortunately forced to grow up faster and take on adult hardships than she was ready for and without much support. Her story is incredibly empathetic as it embodies the hardships of teen motherhood. Smit brings such vulnerability, emotional weight and understanding to this role and it’s reflected in Ana’s growing reliance on and feelings for Janis. However, the character maintains this great strength and seeing her transition to adulthood as well as gaining a sense of independence is incredibly fulfilling.
As for Cruz, there’s just something about the way that she and Almodovar come together that makes for a can’t miss experience. Janis could easily be painted in a negative light for how she lies to Ana about their babies (after some shocking discoveries are made). However, Cruz’s performance and Almodovar’s direction and writing makes the character more complex in regards to how much being a mother means to her. There’s historical context that’s built around the importance and impact of mothers in Janis’ family that makes her desperation to keep secrets from Ana about their kids believable and personal. Not to mention, there’s a shocking revelation that comes about one of the babies that adds more depth and personal anguish to Janis’ actions that Cruz continually adds more emotional layers to as these secrets begin to tear her apart. Cruz’s performance is a beautiful mix of vulnerability and secrecy that’s endlessly engaging which in turn makes the themes and connections in Parallel Mothers work so well.
With Parallel Mothers, Almodovar not only creates a strong story of modern motherhood but also connects it to historic tragedy to put a spotlight on a current issue. Janis’ connection to the mass graves from the Spanish Civil War play a role in her family’s lineage of strong mothers as her grandmother and mother were also single mothers. This plays a major role in her feelings about motherhood. This adds an authentic and culturally historic layer to Janis’ story as it builds upon her emotions about family and love. This allows the film to delve into the emotional grieving of these families who are haunted by the loss of a loved one.
Parallel Mothers is a great showing of how film can be used to highlight social issues and the way that Almodovar connects this to a modern story really creates this impactful time-spanning story that leaves you feeling deeply emotional…eventually. The themes and real-life connections of Parallel Mothers eventually leave an impact on the audience, Almodovar’s execution doesn’t always work well in the moment. The connections to the mass graves come in at the beginning and end so it just sudden when the film dives back into this part of the story. There’s a scene where Janis and Ana are arguing about Spain’s history and Janis suddenly brings up her grandfather being in a mass grave. Since this storyline fades into the background for most of the film it just feels jarring when Janis story suddenly brings this up. So, the connections between modern motherhood story and this historic event don’t always connect at the moment.
Almodovar’s overall direction can also be a little strange at times. There are good, light-hearted humorous moments throughout that are warm and make the characters and their dynamics more engaging, but then there are also moments that are unintentionally funny. Some of the twists and turns in Janis’ journey as a mother as well as her relationship with Ana have such a sudden change that you almost can’t help but laugh in disbelief as it feels like it belongs in a soap opera.
Parallel Mothers certainly can’t make all its elements work, but there’s still something deeply impactful about the story that Almodovar tells here. He shines light on an issue incredibly relevant to him and his culture through an engaging and well-acted modern story of motherhood that sees a great reunion between him and Cruz and brings Smit along for a breakout performance.
