Here’s the premise:Â Â Two women, Janis and Ana, coincide in a hospital room where they are going to give birth. Both are single and became pregnant by accident. Janis, middle-aged, doesn’t regret it and she is exultant. The other, Ana, 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 these hours will create a very close link between the two. Later, the two women’s lives with intersect in a whole new, surprising way.
From the onset, the film sets the tone of sad and happy at the same time, as Janis (Penelope Cruz) has been trying to get a mass grave excavated because she believes her Grandmother is buried there, hoping to find closure after many years. The story takes off from there and takes us on a tour of the lives of Janis and Ana (Milana Smit) and how their lives merge in some unexpected ways. The acting is fantastic, with Cruz standing out and giving one hell of a performance. Director/Writer Pedro Almodovar delivers a haunting, complex, and enticing movie, wonderfully written and beautifully shot movie. I was mesmerized with the whole film and honestly, the movie left wanting to know more of these women’s lives.
I was very impressed, and highly recommend seeing Parallel Mothers.
Russell Lockhart
