★★ There is much to say about the sinuous relationship between Almodóvar and Netflix. In 2017, the manchego, then president of the Cannes jury, said that he was not going to award films from the firm, which presented no less than three in Competition. Scandal, etc.: now he films for them (or they buy his production). Noticeable. Almodóvar’s ironic edge was replaced, in this love story between two women crossed by pregnancies, years and identity dramas, by political declamation and a crudely explicit reference to Francoism, something that the first, brilliant, spontaneous Almodóvar (not this Almodóvar admirer hunter) eluded as inelegant. That the actresses (Smit and Cruz) are very good is logical, the least that is asked for. And that the script has too many meanders to twist emotions ends up being counterproductive. A very low point in a sometimes brilliant career.
