Bitter Christmas

Beloved Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar returns with another of his perfectly art-directed human comedies, this one made up of two alternating stories—one set in 2004, the other present-day—that converge in the realm of screenwriting and auto-fiction. Two artists (Elsa, played by Bárbara Lennie, and Raúl, played by Leonardo Sbaraglia), decades apart, tap into their own personal dramas to juice their creative flow, while putting their close relationships at risk—another stylish variation on a favorite theme from an old master.