One of the most stirring melodramas of the past 20 years. Penelope Cruz proves that she (still) belongs in the pantheon of the world’s best female actors with this career-best performance. The title suggests the plot’s convergence and commonality of all the mothers who touch this story: Janis, Ana, Janis’s mother who died of a drug overdose at 27 and robbed her daughter of a mother, Teresa (Ana’s mother) who robs her daughter of a mother in a different way, and the common mother of them all: Spain, which deprived her children in a different way, and like all the other mothers of the story, hides secrets of shame and guilt and moral confusion, and only reluctantly reveals the truths that will finally heal. Heartbreaking and devastating, as we watch all of these mothers overcome morally confusion, misdeed, degrees of selfishness and secrecy, and finally surrender the truth to her broken children.

Hmm..an hysterical premise but played low key. Very involving even though it doesn't have a ring of truth about it. Don't know much about the Spanish graves issue but it seems like the film is trying to compare two stories here. Penelope Cruz is very beautiful.

Penelope is breathetaking as always. Her collaborating w Almodovar each time provides a joyful experience to me. Final scene was so powerful.

Another low key work from Almodóvar. Whatever one thinks of the plot's twists and turns, it is hard to deny how great Cruz is at selling the emotional stakes.

I never think I like Pedro Almodóvar films, but when I look through his filmography, I have to report that I've seen exactly none of them - so I'm probably not in the best place to comment really, am I? So let's break that duck, shall we? Hmmm - it's very earnest. It does indeed follow Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit as they experience motherhood - in a parallel fashion, unsurprisingly. It spends half an hour going nowhere and then, out of left field - BOOM! Well, I wasn't expecting that. And then, from further out - DOUBLE BOOM! Blimey. All of a sudden we've got ourselves a proper story. And that's all I'm going to tell you, except for saying that the film raises quite a few interesting points that I'd like to discuss, but can't because of spoilers. And then it kinda does nothing with them... Penélope Cruz and Milena Smit are both great in this - their relationship in the film changes over time and they sell their different roles and motivations well. Israel Elejaide is also good as Arturo, the token man/anthropologist - every film needs a token anthropologist, right? The overall aesthetic is a bit odd - it's quite melodramatic and soapy and really not helped by the bizarre music which has a very cheesy 60s sitcom style. However, with themes including motherhood, guilt, fascism and redemption, it's fair to say this film couldn't be more Spanish if it tried. Another thing you can quite safely say about this film is that it passes the Bechdel test - it has hardly anything other than conversations between women in it and they're never discussing men. It also doesn't really end in the way that I was expecting - for such a melodramatic film it has quite a low-key ending. So - did I like it? I didn't not like it, but it also didn't overly engage me. It started very slowly (I probably would have given up on it under normal circumstances), introduced a couple of interesting plot devices and then resolved them in a surprisingly understated fashion so I was definitely left thinking "Huh - was that it?". But the performances are good and it taught me a bit about the Spanish Civil War, so it's not all bad - I've no idea whether that will be enough to interest you. If it is, then it's available to rent in all the usual places - I can't say my opinion of Pedro has massively improved, but at least I have the one film to base that opinion on now.

Empieza con una buena línea de historia y se va revolviendo de una manera desafortunada. Me parecieron acartonadas varias escenas claves, que no creo que sea culpa de las actrices sino del guión. Se siente muy pesada la mano y visión de un director hombre en toda la fabricación de esta película, la relación lésbica estuvo de más, el co-parenting y la complejidad de la relación se pudo lograr sin llegar al recurso sexual, ellas lloran con maquillaje perfecto, se quejan pero no demasiado, aceptan al hombre que está cuando tiene ganas y no es creíble que te digan que te cambiaron a tu bebé y no te enfurezcas, luego se va con la bebé y la otra mamá se despide como si diera en adopción a un cachorrito del que ya se encariñó, no se siente la profundidad de sus personajes, todo muy por encima en cuestión de emociones y relaciones. El punto del principio lo conectaron hasta el final y no se terminó de unir bien con el desarrollo que hicieron de la historia.

At first the plot seems a cliche but turns out to be surprisingly great. The screenplay is brilliant, in addition to the very interesting story, it has some deep lines and tackles beautiful topics. Penelope Cruz's performance is superb, specially when it comes to her real facial expressions. This film is one of the year's very pleasant surprises, it's nice, highly entertaining and definitely deserves its Golden Globes nomination for best foreign-language feature, too bad Spain didn't submit it to The Academy though.

They accidently switched their babys in hospital. One of the babys died and the mother of the surviving child gives her baby back to the other mother. Mutch blabla, nothing happens. Noone dies (exept the baby) and thats it. Insanly stuipid.

I didn't know what this was about going in, but I was expecting an Almodóvar film complete with aesthetic, colourful visuals and a focus on relationships and the interesting dynamic between the various characters – the man doesn't disappoint. Dealing with a difficult and rare subject, there's no shortage of interesting angles to approach it from and I enjoyed the way the iconic director sometimes pushed the tone towards thriller-esque territory before veering back to the familiar. This isn't his best film by a long shot, but an outstanding Penelope Cruz will ensure that you keep watching until the very end.

Overall, I walked into the film with a brief understanding of its plot, and the film exceeded my expectation with its drama, mysteries and thrills.  For the most part, the film's pace is great, but sadly, some subplots overstay their welcome, and I found major mysteries that were introduced highly predictable, and the same can be said for key aspects of the plot.  Penelope Cruz is outstanding here, and her performance is both successfully touching and dramatic.  The film's musical score is a nice surprise, and it reminded me of older classic thrillers.  Fans of director Pedro Almodovar will generally know what to expect here and will certainly benefit from this film the most.

Plot twists and heightened drama like a soap in a good way, with incredible cinematography and acting.

Mais um filme indicado do Oscar, com temas sociais sem problema com isso já que retratou bem o dilema de troca de bebês, que de mostra desesperador seja qual for a parte, uma coisa acho sem noção é que andei percebendo em muitas séries/filmes é botar sexo em tudo canto, e nesse foi um amor entre elas duas okay pode acontecer mas acho assim não era o foco do filme, então as histórias foram boas por outro lado deveriam se manter no tema, não era objetivo do filme um amor entre duas mulheres, e sim as trocas de bebês, tirando isso teve uma temática importante que as vezes pode acontecer.

I don't get the hype. The story was nothing special and it was really unpleasant.

Just got sort of ridiculous.

Almodovar torna alla ribalta per l'ennesima volta con un dramma in cui a farla da padrona è l'ordinarietà della vita. La scintilla iniziale non è particolarmente originale, lo scambio di bambini piuttosto un cliché ma fortunatamente tutto ciò che gira intorno è ben strutturato e la trama piena di eventi che ne cambiano continuamente la natura. In alcuni passaggi non si comprende molto bene la linea temporale e questo è l'unico momento in cui ci si rende conto che si è davanti ad un riassunto. Il finale ha un tocco nostalgico e storico che non ci si aspetta e che aggiunge qualità.

Penelope Cruz did an amazing job with very bad script that basically felt like they ran out of time and skipped over any resolution to the stories. Both mothers reactions (or lack there of) to the dramatic events with their babies were completely unbelievable - obviously written by a man who has no concept of being a parent, and there was no cohesion between the story of the mothers and the story of the forgotten ancestors who died in the war, which felt forced and disjointed. From someone who loves almodovar, this was perhaps his worse movie ever.

MOTHER AND CHILD Typical Pedro Almodovar, expertly prodding his beloved Spain, this time with two forks: literally digging up Franco's fascist history, and then focusing on the complicated role of single, first time mothers. Long standing muse Penelope Cruz handles both utensils, as the orchestrator of village women who long their victimized men exhumed from a mass grave for proper burial, and as an unexpected expecting mother. It is a fascinating dual trip, with just enough overlap before a coalescing finale. As the strong centre piece, Cruz is awesome as usual. Professional photographer turning a chance fling (how European) into a sudden family affair at an advancing age seems ripe for whoopsie adventure. Round and hospital bound, she befriends another solo expector, much younger but equally determined. The game of chances continues as the ladies give birth on the same day, solidifying their bond, a bond rekindled by yet another chance encounter down the line. This may sound soap opera-y, and it is, but Almodovar shakes his film awake with a stunning mid-plot turn. A higher gear at the perfect time. The strength of the main character assaulted by circumstance, cracks a well established facade, and presents the mother of all dilemmas. Viewer patience pays off as "Parallel Mothers finally gathers proper steam. A movie that digs up the past, stokes the present, and looks to the future in equal, messy and thought provoking doses, with the complexities of lineage as a central theme, and Cruz as the ideal conduit. Almodovar has done it again. - hipCRANK

Despite a slow start, this movie becomes a whirlwind of drama. The acting is outstanding, especially Penelope Cruz. Dubbing in English would have helped some of us follow the twists & turns.

Firstly, the plot had great potential for an astonishing development. The idea of a mother to withdraw a secret information from another mother, by risking to lose her other child, is what would've made me rate this at least a 4-star. But soon it became obvious what this all was about: Every man appearing in the main plot is either a felon or a coward. Every woman is portrayed as valiant and inviolable. The plot-points were synthetically and absurdly put on and took the movie its true nature from it. This one had no surprise or main element, once it became a propagandistic motion picture where you already know their point and message.

Wow! If the Oscars weren't so American-centric, Cruz would win Best Access hands down. And Almodovar continues to show why he is one of the best directors in the world of cinema.