Pedro Almodóvar returns to vintage form but displaying a new maturity that doesn't feel the need to parcel everything up with sexual explicitness and garish kitsch melodrama.

| Feb 2, 2023

[Director Pedro Almodóvar] is adapting a novel by Ruth Rendell, one of our own queens of crime. Yet there is nothing anonymous about this full-blooded, constantly surprising thriller.

| Feb 1, 2023

Few directors could bring together such a seductive collection of players for both women and men to revel in, then photograph them with an instinctive line into their sensuality that leaves most films, mainstream or porn, in the dust.

| Apr 5, 2022

As Victor's hyper-masculine tendencies fuel his actions, every character's arc entangles more and more with one another. Liberto Rabal and Javier Bardem put on an immersive front and persona in this revenge saga.

| Apr 29, 2020

A single ricochet gunshot propels the plot and dramatically alters the lives of the quintet. The result is a vengeful, five-way battle of wits.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 9, 2018

[VIDEO ESSAY] Behind its soap opera appearance, Almodovar makes pointed political statements that bruise.

| Original Score: A | Apr 22, 2015

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 7, 2011

The film also feels curiously underpopulated, unenlivened by any sparky character bits.

| Jul 13, 2007

Very much an Almodovar picture with most of the anticipated outrageous occurrences intact.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 11, 2006

Pedro Almodovar has done something nearly unheard of: he has made a wheelchair movie without maudlin sentiment and overbearing importance. Even better, it's actually rather enjoyable.

| Sep 23, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 29, 2006

Another offbeat Almodovar treat - with another compelling Bardem performance.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | May 19, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 9, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 29, 2005

It is a pleasure to see such a tight work from Amaldovar.

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 9, 2005

gripping and gorgeous

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 19, 2004

Witness the increasing promise of Pedro Almodvar, in a film that has gone largely unnoticed in his career but stands as a worthy and mostly mainstream entry into his unique style of twisted relationship movies.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 3, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Jun 15, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 29, 2003

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 23, 2002