In his latest melodrama, Bitter Christmas (Spanish: Amarga Navidad), the Spanish auteur, Pedro Almodovar treads in - somewhat - familiar waters. His heroine, Elsa (Barbara Lennie), suffers from migraines, dates a younger firefighter (Patrick Criado) who also moonlights as a stripper, and struggles to write a new screenplay, in an effort to resurrect her directorial film career. Meanwhile, another filmmaker, Raul (Leonardo Sbaraglia), is working on his own screenplay, and its narrative structure strangely mimics Elsa's own plight.
Amarga Navidad is not exactly top-tier Almodovar, but it nevertheless features quintessential elements of the Spanish director - strong female arcs, deeply rooted internal struggles, and a wider array of colors in each frame than can be found in a rainbow spectrum. In other words, it's for pure Almodovar aficionados - and knowing what a master storyteller the man is, there should be no shortage of those floating around.
☆☆☆
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