Ibero American Film Fest: Parallel Mothers

Starring Penélope Cruz in what could be the best performance of her career, Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers is an unabashed story of cascading twists and turns, thickening complications, and high family drama.

The film follows two mothers who meet at the hospital ward during their pregnancy, and whose lives become intertwined from then on. Janis (Penélope Cruz), middle-aged, doesn’t regret her accidental pregnancy and she is exultant. The other, Ana (Milena Smit), an adolescent, is scared, repentant, and traumatized. Janis tries to encourage her while they move like sleepwalkers along the hospital corridors. The few words they exchange in those hours will create a very close link between the two, which by chance develops and becomes complicated, changing their lives in a decisive way.

In one of his best films to date, Almodóvar revisits the legacy of his country’s political violence during the Spanish Civil War to provide a broader and richer perspective on the exploration of one’s ancestry.

Pre-screening snacks starting at 5:30 PM in Landis Cinema lobby