The 7 Pedro Almodóvar Films I Watched in 2024

Welcome to my blog! My name is Carter Hardy; I’m a graduate student at the University of Utah with a love for movies—especially sci-fi, Spanish-language films, and anything starring Nic Cage! I created this Substack to write about films, books, and anything else that might interest me.

While preparing for my trip to Spain this last summer, I started watching different movies set in Madrid and Barcelona to give me a window into the culture and environment of the cities. You can't watch movies about Spain without stumbling upon Pedro Almodóvar, precisely what happened to me. Almodóvar is a Spanish director known for using bold colors, especially red, that pair with his strong themes that often revolve around sex in some way. Many of his movies I have seen are female-led, with stories told from their perspective. In 2024, I watched seven films directed by Almodóvar. I will rank them by listing my favorite and least favorite, then fill in 2-6 of the list.

1 - Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown was my introduction to his filmography, and I didn't realize I would be starting with his most popular and loved feature. As I mentioned earlier, I googled movies that took place in Madrid, and this was one of the must-watch movies listed. I became obsessed with the use of color and the interesting dynamics in the film. I thought Carmen Maura was excellent as the lead, and all the different relationships were touching and hilarious. I gave this movie 5/5 stars.

7 - Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!

Oof. This one is tough for me. Victoria Abril has become one of my favorite actresses in the Almodóvar movies, and she is an excellent actress. The plot of this movie is about a young man, played by Antonio Banderas, who kidnaps Abril's character to convince her to fall in love with him. The film is supposed to come off as charming and humorous, but without spoiling it, I did not like it. Most of the movie is good, but I wasn't a fan when it ended. I gave it a 2-2.5/5.

2 & 3 - High Heels & Volver

These two are too close to tell who is second or third. I watched Volver way back in the spring, so I don't quite remember the whole movie, but I remember loving it when it ended and being enamored by everyone's performance. Volver is also notable because there are maybe two men with a total of four lines, and everyone else in this movie is a woman, and they all do a phenomenal job. Watching a film almost entirely focused on women was interesting and refreshing.

On the other hand, High Heels is the movie I most recently watched, and I loved it. It had been sitting on my watch list for months. I eventually rented it from the library, and then it sat in my living room for probably another month until the day it was due back to the library. I finally popped it into the DVD player and watched it. After watching, I was kicking myself for putting off such a good movie for so long. The twist of this movie made me speechless because I did not see it coming from any direction. As I said, Victoria Abril is one of my favorite actresses in this collection and performs well. Near the end, she has a monologue when she lets everything off her chest, and it's the single best scene out of all of these movies I have seen so far. After watching it, I wanted it to jump to my number 2 spot, even contend for number 1, but I couldn't remember Volver well enough other than the feeling it left me with. While writing this out and reflecting on how much I enjoyed it, High Heels officially took spot number 2, giving Volver number 3. I gave both of these movies 4.5/5 stars.

4 - All About My Mother

This film is my most controversial ranking because people love it, and don't get me wrong, it's excellent! All About My Mother is the only film I watched with Spanish subtitles instead of English subtitles because they were unavailable. Although I understood everything and the themes they were communicating, I don't deny the idea that there was less of an emotional impact not interacting with this movie in at least one way of my first language. All About My Mother has some of the most complex themes. One thing about all of Pedro's movies is that he introduces you to multiple characters seemingly without connection. However, as the movie continues, you see the ties between them all draw closer and closer together. I gave this movie 4/5 stars.

5 - I'm So Excited

The most light-hearted and humorous of the bunch, I'm So Excited is a silly movie set on a plane with multiple people who seemingly have no connection but are all connected. It's the least polished film of the ones I watched. The pacing was strange; with the number of characters conflicting with the run time. You get 10-15 minutes with a character, and then the story moves on to the next character without going back to anyone else. A flight attendant musical number midway through is Oscar-worthy on its own. Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz are listed as two of the leads in this movie, even though they have one line each and are only in the first 15 seconds. I gave this 3/5 stars.

6 - The Skin I Live In

Effective at what it wants to accomplish, The Skin I Live In gets inside you and makes your stomach churn. Its identity differs compared to his other movies, being more of a thriller than a drama/comedy. Like all of Pedro's movies, it keeps you guessing what is happening, but as the wheels turn, you become more and more shocked by what you'll face. I didn't even rate this one because I don't know how to rate this movie. Similar to Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! I don't know if I can morally get behind this movie because of its intense themes. The Skin I Live In is a movie I would rarely recommend on its own, but if you are deep diving into Almodóvar movies, you will eventually watch it.

All in all, Pedro Almodóvar has become one of my favorite directors. I love his framing, the role women play in his work, and the colors that bring life to his films. If you haven't already, I highly recommend exploring his filmography.

Have you seen any of these movies? Did I get the rankings correct? Which Almodóvar movie is your favorite or least favorite? If any of these movies piqued your interest, I encourage you to watch them and share your thoughts. Fair warning: themes of sexual assault are present in many of his films, so approach them with that in mind.

What is next for 2025?

As far as Pedro Almodóvar goes, Law of Desire and Matador have been on my watch list for quite some time, and I will hopefully get to those in the new year. I will also start going through the discography of Italian director Federico Fellini with my sister. I don't know much about him, but his films are highly rated, and I look forward to watching them.

Coming Soon - 12 Nic Cage movies I Watched in 2024

Letterboxd: Chardy_b

Letterboxd list: Almodóvar Rankings