Bitter Christmas film review: A filmmaker’s woes
Pedro Almodóvar veers into semi-autobiographical territory with a tale of neuroses, mental anguish and metatextual flourishes
Spanish movie maestro Pedro Almodóvar shines a spotlight on the screenwriting process in an intriguing and engrossing drama charting the evolution of a creative project. Based on one of the director’s own short stories, it sees Almodóvar return to personal territory, a la 2019’s Pain And Glory, by focussing on the frustrations and neuroses of a filmmaker.
This tragicomic tale introduces us to Raúl (Leonardo Sbaraglia), whose trials with his indispensable assistant Mónica (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) take a backseat to the story he is telling, that of his alter-ego Elsa (an excellent Bárbara Lennie), who is plagued by migraines and panic attacks and mourning her mother. Advertising director Elsa is living with devoted beau Bonifacio (Patrick Criado), a firefighter and stripper. Despite her own mental health struggles, Elsa finds time to support friends Patricia (Victoria Luengo), whose partner has been cheating on her, and Natalia (Milena Smit), who is grieving her young son, controversially taking artistic inspiration from both their predicaments.
Sporting a typically vivid palette, scored with old Hollywood-esque suspense and building toward some explosive emotions, Bitter Christmas is in many ways quintessential Almodóvar. However, the filmmaker courageously critiques his own process and characterisations, particularly during the ambitious, very meta conclusion. He takes to task the tendency of writers to cull from their own lives and the lives of others, with scant concern for the consequences. A compelling cast, led by the mesmerising Lennie, ensure that the film remains absorbing even as it picks over and rewrites itself. Despite its disjointed, occasionally jarring nature, it’s thrillingly sophisticated stuff.
Bitter Christmas is in cinemas from Friday 28 August.