Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.
Volver – to come back or return – is an exceptionally fitting title for Pedro Almodóvar’s Palme D’Or contender. It’s a return, after the male-dominated duo of Talk To Her and Bad Education, to a story saturated with Almodóvar’s love and compassion for women of all shapes, sizes and sentiments; a hearty tribute to the Spanish maestro’s rural La Mancha roots and a captivating reunion with two of his former muses – Cruz, who appeared in All About My Mother, and Maura, the gleaming star of his career-launching ’80s movies.
They play mother and daughter in a feisty, supernatural-inflected melodrama about the redemptive power of female bonding, although Almodóvar keeps his muses apart until a third-act crescendo, when the emotional floodgates are opened. If you only know Cruz from her insipid English-language forays, prepare to be astounded: as spirited mama Raimunda, she’s earthy, sensual, electric – a radiant combo of Mildred Pierce (one of many camp classics Pedro tips his hat to) and Anna Magnani, made up as the spitting image of Sophia Loren at her sultry, early-’60s peak. Almodóvar’s camera can’t get enough of her, zooming in for soul-scorching close-ups on her limpid eyes (framed by chunky black eyeliner and frequently welling with tears), ogling her like a builder as she swings her hips through the Madrid barrios or lingering above her remarked-upon cleavage while she does the washing-up.
As career-salvaging efforts go, this is a corker for Cruz. It's also a strong return to the female-oriented melodramas of Pedro's early years.
