Skip to main content
The Morning Star 2026 Conference
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.
Similar stories
TROUBLED LEGACY: Between 50,000 and 100,000 people stood silently with clenched fists raised during the procession of the hearses containing the bodies of three of the people murdered during the Atocha massacre, Madrid, January 26 1977
Anti-Fascism / 20 November 2025
20 November 2025

Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died 50 years ago today November 20. JIM JUMP looks back at his blood-soaked rule and toxic legacy on Spain today

round up
Cinema / 3 July 2025
3 July 2025

The Star's critics ANGUS REID, MICHAL BONCZA and MARIA DUARTE review Hot Milk, An Ordinary Case, Heads Of State, and Jurassic World Rebirth

shrouds
Film of the Week / 3 July 2025
3 July 2025

MARIA DUARTE recommends the creepy thrills of David Cronenburg’s provocative and macabre exploration of grief

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