Third day at the fest brought one of my most anticipated movies of the year and a South African surprise.
Y’all I am running on fumes. I forgot how wonderfully draining attending a festival can be. I’ve got some virtual screenings I need to watch but I must say that today’s movies paired really well as both were films about motherhood and relationships with mothers.
Parallel Mothers – A new Pedro Almodovar movie is always a treat and this one is no exception. In this film, we track two women who meet as they are about to give birth and track their lives as they deal with their familial histories. What I loved about this movie is that I came in expecting one type of film and got one that was different. Pedro grounds the movie with an interesting look at Spanish history while letting all of the story’s melodrama play out beautifully. Penelope Cruz is quite sensational in this movie; nobody understands her gifts or challenges her like Pedro, and it was great to see them working in concert together once again. The technical elements here are also outstanding, with vibrant production design and a sumptuous score.
Good Madam – Speaking of good tech work, Good Madam has an out of this world sound design, which is used to creepy and chilling effect at every turn. This South African horror film is 92 minutes of nerves. There’s nothing quite like watching horror films tackle race and class in interesting ways. Here Jenna Bass chronicles the story of a woman who is forced to moved in with her estranged mother, a live-in domestic worker, and tries to free her from the clutches of the house. There is some wild stuff that happens in this film, so I won’t say much more than just these kudos.