Parallel Mothers bookends with a non-sequitur subplot. Not unlike The Unforgivable, this subplot –although almost completely irrelevant—swallows up everything around it. I suppose some might call it necessary because otherwise this standard empathetic look at women’s issues from writer/director Pedro Almodóvar would have had the weakest ending in all of 2021 moviedom – and that includes all the crappy films, too.
Don’t be fooled by the opening/closing invoking the horrors of the Spanish Civil War. While this is an important topic in world history, it is used in this film only to get around major script problems. For instance, in the beginning of the film, it is used as a way to get professional photographer Janis Martinez (Penélope Cruz) together with her subject, forensic archaeologist Arturo (Israel Elejalde). Once Janis gets pregnant, Arturo essentially disappears from the film until the part where Almodóvar remembered he needed an ending.
In the pregnancy ward, Janis meets Ana (Milena Smit), a woman of a much lower income bracket, but –hey- we’re both soon-to-be single mothers, so why not a friendship? Sure, why not? A 
beautiful friendship has begun. Hmmm, I’m in a bit of a bind here – while we all applaud and revere motherhood, there’s little less interesting on film than a mother taking care of a baby. The film knows this as well, so it gave us two HUGE plot points to deal with. However, I cannot describe either one … or even the relationship between the women without spoiling the film.
So I’m left with .. what? Women. Baby. Mothers. Good.
Weak.
Suffice to say, Arturo does return at the end of Act I for a cameo; he makes one comment and the movie is never the same.
I found Parallel Mothers a bit of a drag. I think the runtime could lose thirty minutes easy without taking away any of the force of the film. And as I said above, I think the subplot cheated the action. So while not giving this tour-de-womanhood a passing grade, I will state for the record that it’s hard to underestimate the value of Pedro Almodóvar. For decades, he has consistently championed women and feminine issues better than pretty much any other writer or director you can name. He did this during the era of Schwarzenegger; he did this through the PC era; he needed no #MeToo movement to change what he etched in script and celluloid. Can’t say I always loved the finished product, but to my mind, Pedro Almodóvar doesn’t have anywhere near the accolades he deserves.
Janis was an artist of splendor
She became a single mother and what’s more
She met a girl, Ana
Their connection … uncanna
And then … the Spanish Civil War?
Rated R, 123 Minutes
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Writer: Pedro Almodóvar
Genre: “So how’s your life going?”
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: New mothers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People for whom conflict resolution is more than just lip service
