Volver

This is a Spanish film about a family living in Madrid. The mother and father have passed away in a fire and the elderly aunt is getting up there in years and bit crazy. The daughter pops in to take care of the aunt and the aunt keeps talking as if the mother were still around taking care of her. She writes it off as crazy talk, but after the aunt dies, we find out the mother faked her death in the fire and has been taking care of the aunt. The mother goes and hides out at her other daughter’s house and pretends to be a Russian hair dresser and steers clear of the oldest daughter.

Meanwhile, the oldest daughter illegally borrows her friend’s abandoned restaurant to start a catering business. And finds out her own daughter has killed her boyfriend when he gets drunk and tries to rape her one night. They hide the body for a while in the restaurant and the whole thing is just weird. The oldest daughter eventually finds out about her mother still being alive and shacking up with her sister. A family friend gets diagnosed with cancer and the supposedly-dead mother simply moves houses to take care of the cancer lady. It’s kind of a touching story and I was pleasantly surprised with this film. There’s not a ton of action in it, however, the Spaniards do enjoy some plot, so I feel like this film is one of the better foreign films. Additionally, it's got singing parts in it, which never thrills me, but that's my own personal beef with films. It’s got a couple of plot twists I didn’t see coming either, so it’s got that going for it.

The film stars Penelope Cruz as the oldest daughter, and a lot of other actors who aren’t big names, but act very well. The film is a little far fetched, but aside from two women carrying a dead body down a wide-open street, it’s fun enough to be believable. This is a film for the ladies, so if you like ‘splosions and fire, you’re not going to get it in this film. Even so, it’s worth watching.