Cannes 2026: Bitter Christmas movie review – Pedro Almodovar’s engrossing meta drama
3.5/5 stars
At 76, Pedro Almodovar is in a state of self-reflection – at least that is what you may feel after watching Bitter Christmas, the 24th film of the Spanish director’s career.
Receiving its international premiere in the Cannes Film Festival’s main competition, Bitter Christmas is a meta movie about the creative process, the film industry and the relationship between life and cinema.
It is also terrain that Almodovar has explored before, and more successfully, in 2019’s Pain and Glory,...
Almodóvar's 'Bitter Christmas' debuts
- Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Bitter Christmas’ Earns 6.5-Minute Standing Ovation at Cannes Variety —
- Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Bitter Christmas’ Receives Warm Response at Cannes The Hollywood Reporter —
- Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Bitter Christmas’ Gets 9-Minute Ovation In Cannes Debut Deadline —
- ‘Bitter Christmas’ Review: Pedro Almodóvar’s Elegant Rumination on Art and Ethics Is Intensely Personal but Emotionally Unyielding The Hollywood Reporter —
- Bitter Christmas review – grief, loss and artistic betrayal in Almodóvar’s film within a film The Guardian —