Pedro Almodóvar has always had something to say, but “Parallel Mothers” may be his most ambitious statement to date. This is a film that operates on multiple registers simultaneously: a motherhood story wrapped inside a love triangle wrapped inside a political warning so urgent it reverberates far beyond Spain’s borders.

The story of mothers and babies here is no mere melodrama. It’s a direct metaphor for the mothers whose children were “disappeared” under Franco’s fascist regime, stolen and never returned, their fates buried in unmarked graves that Spain has been reluctant to excavate. Almodóvar understands that allowing a fascist government is not without future consequences. Failing to understand history will doom your children and grandchildren to a future you would never want for them. This is a clear warning for the USA to rise up against fascism, and equally for France, the UK, and other Western democracies flirting with authoritarianism. Spain is not the only country haunted by this “Memory.” Patricio Guzmán’s “Nostalgia for the Light” (2010) explored similar terrain in Chile, documenting how Pinochet’s “disappeared” continue to shape generations.

Visually, Almodóvar remains a master. His signature bold colors, meticulous compositions, and sumptuous production design create a world that feels both heightened and achingly real. Penélope Cruz delivers phenomenal character work as Janis, embodying the film’s complex relationships with nuance and grace. Milena Smit matches her step for step as Ana, rising to Cruz’s level with a performance that feels both raw and deeply considered. Every collaboration between Almodóvar and Cruz has been exceptional, and this may be their finest.

But perhaps what’s most remarkable is how “Parallel Mothers” brings Almodóvar’s early work, “The Law of Desire,” full circle. This is a treatise on the fluidity and limitlessness of love and desire. Humans are not truly binary, not male or female in rigid categories. The world is a large family, and acceptance, Almodóvar argues, is the only answer. Love, in all its forms, is what survives when political systems crumble and history tries to bury the truth.

“Parallel Mothers” doesn’t just ask us to remember. Every “disappeared” person was some mother’s baby. The film is a call to action before memory becomes the only inheritance we leave behind.

– Seen it? Comments?