Skip to main content
Parallel Mothers
MARIA DUARTE recommends a subtle and compelling drama about motherhood and the missing thousands executed by Franco’s forces, buried in unmarked graves

Parallel Mothers (15) 
Directed by Pedro Almodovar

THERE is always a lot more depth and subtext to renowned Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s work than meets the eye, and Parallel Mothers is no exception.

Through the complexities of motherhood he addresses a painful part of Spain’s history yet to be resolved: the thousands of missing victims snatched and executed by Franco’s Falangists and buried in unmarked mass graves, whose families who are desperate to find and inter them properly. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Treading Water / Pic: IMDb
Film of the week / 24 April 2025
24 April 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends a tough love story that unfolds among mental health issues, drug addiction and inadequate housing

THE PERILS OF INTERNET DATING: (L) Ruaridh Mollica in Sebast
Cinema / 3 April 2025
3 April 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Sebastian, Four Mothers, Restless, and The Most Precious of Cargoes
YOU CAN TAKE THE BOY OUT OF PORT TALBOT, BUT: Toby Jones and
Film of the week / 3 April 2025
3 April 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a drama that explores the formative years of Richard Burton’s life
FATAL TIES: Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett in Black B
Film of the week / 13 March 2025
13 March 2025
The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE recommends a deliciously dark thriller that explores the complex loyalties within a marriage
Similar stories
Pedro Almodovar, 2017
Books / 8 November 2024
8 November 2024
ALAN McGUIRE recommends an autobiography that is an intriguing mix of short stories and personal sketches
Mati Diop's Dahomey
Cinema / 24 October 2024
24 October 2024
Colonial plunder goes home, chilly euthanasia, transsexual drug baron and venom’s end: The Star's critic MARIA DUARTE reviews Dahomey, The Room Next Door, Emilia Perez and Venom: The Last Dance
Hans-Jurgen Hoss, son of Rudolph Hoss
Film of the Week: / 11 July 2024
11 July 2024
MARIA DUARTE is chilled by a documentary that brings together the son of Rudolf Hoss with a Jewish Auschwitz survivor
LESSONS OF THE PAST: PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote ad
Features / 7 July 2024
7 July 2024
This year’s International Brigade Memorial Trust commemoration took on an urgent tone, with warnings of ‘terrifying wave of fascism’ in Europe drawing parallels between 1930s Spain and today, reports LYNNE WALSH