3 March: Parallel Mothers

This week’s film is the 2021 Spanish drama Parallel Mothers, directed by Pedro Almodóvar.

Two single women from different backgrounds meet in a hospital room where they are both going to give birth. One is middle aged and elated, while the other is adolescent and scared. The two women form a strong bond as they both confront motherhood.

Featuring Penélope Cruz (Ferrari, Official Competition) and Milena Smit (Tin & Tina) in lead roles, Parallel Mothers makes for a unique visual experience – huge, uncomfortable closeups of the leads, delicately designed interiors, and fierce, thick blocks of Mondrian colour are just some of Almodóvar’s signature film techniques.

Critics have praised Parallel Mothers as one of the acclaimed director’s finest works. Writing for the Guardian in a five-star review, Peter Bradshaw called the film a deeply emotional experience, with “the warmth and the grandiloquent flair of a picture from Hollywood’s golden age … and the whiplash twists and addictive sugar rush bumps of daytime soap”. At the Golden Globes, Parallel Mothers was nominated for Best Foreign International Film, with its acclaimed score nominated for several other awards, including an Oscar.

If you’re an IFS member, be sure to catch Parallel Mothers at the Gala Cinema this Sunday, 3 March at 7pm. If you’re not yet a member of the 2024 season, it’s still not too late! Sign up now and secure over 30 films, screened weekly through the year, for just $99. That’s less than $4 per film!