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KPCW sends its most discerning moviegoers to the movies each week to let you know which films are worth going to and which are a pass. The Friday Film Review airs at 7:20 a.m., during the Noon News and in The Local View. KPCW Friday Film Reviewers are: Barb Bretz, Rick Brough, Mark Harrington and Linda Jager.

Friday Film Review--"Parallel Mothers"

Parallel Mothers
Sony Pictures Classics
Parallel Mothers

Penélope Cruz has partnered again with Spanish

filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar in Parallel Mothers – a poignant drama that

follows the lives of two women who meet while in labor in a shared

hospital room. The film marks Cruz’s seventh film collaboration

with Almodóvar.

Cruz stars as Janis, a 40 something fashion

photographer who meets Arturo, a forensic anthropologist, during a

photoshoot. Janis asks Arturo to investigate a mass grave containing the

body of her great-grandfather and others who went missing

during the Spanish Civil War. The two begin a passionate affair, and

later Janis discovers she’s pregnant just as the relationship is fading.

Months later, Janis is in the hospital alone and in

labor. She shares a hospital room with a teen named Ana (played by

Milena Smit), also a soon-to-be single mother. Ana is frightened and

struggles during labor, but Janis provides her much-needed

comfort and support.

Both women give birth to daughters, and their bond

grows over their shared experience. They exchange numbers intending to

stay in touch as they leave the hospital. However, months pass and they

reconnect in unexpected circumstances, and

their relationship becomes much more complicated.

After a brief break following the birth of her

daughter, Janis returns to her work and her quest to bring closure to

her family and the others whose ancestors disappeared. Atruro re-enters

her life and leads the efforts to find and exhume

their remains.

Aptly titled, Parallel Mothers, follows the

side-by-side journey of two very different women as they become mothers.

Almodóvar also brilliantly weaves that plotline with the story of

Janis’ ancestors.

Cruz delivers an outstanding and deeply emotional

performance as Janis, which earned her a Best Actress nomination for

Sunday’s Academy Awards. Her performance in Parallel Mothers is her

fourth Oscar nomination. Smit delivers an equally

impressive performance as Ana evolves from a lost teen to a loving

mother.

Running 2 hours and rated R for some sexuality,

Parallel Mothers is presented in Spanish with English subtitles. Coming

to Park City Film April 1-3, Parallel Mothers is a film worth watching

for fans of Spanish Cinema and Pedro Almodóvar’s

work.

One of KPCW's Friday Film Review, reviewers.