Movie · 2006 · Comedy, Drama, Romance · 2h 1m · R · Spanish
Curator score: 8.7/10 (298.1K ratings)
Overview
Three generations of women deal with family secrets while surviving the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition, lies and even death.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.7/10
IMDb: 7.6/10
Letterboxd: 4.09/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Metacritic: 84
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Pedro Almodóvar
Production
El Deseo
Cast
Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave, Antonio de la Torre, Carlos Blanco, María Isabel Díaz Lago, Neus Sanz, Leandro Rivera, Pepa Aniorte, Yolanda Ramos, Elvira Cuadrupani, María Alfonsa Rosso, Fanny de Castro, Eli Iranzo, Carlos García Cambero, Magdalena Brotto, Isabel Ayúcar
Curator Review
Verdict
A rich, warm-blooded melodrama that blends family secrets, ghost story elements, and dark comedy with a deeply feminine point of view. It’s emotionally generous, visually lush, and one of Almodóvar’s most accessible films, anchored by a standout Penélope Cruz performance.
Best for
fans of emotional melodrama with humor
viewers who like women-centered ensemble stories
people drawn to magical realism and family secrets
audiences who enjoy stylish, colorful filmmaking
Skip if
you want a straightforward realist drama
you dislike heightened emotions and soap-opera turns
you prefer male-led stories or action-driven plots
you’re not in the mood for grief, trauma, and domestic dysfunction
Overview
Volver is one of those films that makes melodrama feel alive, funny, and strangely healing. Almodóvar turns a story about death, abuse, lies, and family inheritance into something buoyant and intimate, where gossip, cooking, and survival carry as much emotional weight as any grand revelation.
Worth noting
The film’s magic lies in how casually it folds the supernatural into everyday life. Ghosts are not there to frighten so much as to comfort, expose, and complicate the truth. That tonal balance gives the movie its distinctive charge: it is playful without being trivial, and devastating without becoming bleak.
Bottom line
Penélope Cruz is magnetic, but the whole ensemble works as a portrait of women improvising a life together under pressure. The result is both a crowd-pleaser and a deeply personal statement, with Almodóvar’s signature color, music, and empathy in full bloom.
Top Letterboxd reviews
clownhead (4★) · 7223 likes
i think men have like ... maybe ten lines total in this entire film. i feel refreshed and rejuvenated and ready to give back to the community
Vilu (4★) · 3888 likes
Why make movies about men when you can just... do this instead?
eduarda marina (5★) · 3400 likes
the way almodóvar gets human emotions..... the way almodóvar hates men..... the way penelope cruz.....
pulcrito (4.5★) · 2778 likes
Penélope's lip sync was better than anything from the last 9 seasons of drag race.