During a long December holiday weekend, a woman, whose mother has recently died, throws herself into work as a form of escape. Her relentless pace is interrupted when a panic attack forces her to take a break.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Elsa Rosado: Bárbara Lennie
• Raúl Durán: Leonardo Sbaraglia
• Mónica: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón
• Patricia: Victoria Luengo
• Bonifacio: Patrick Criado
• Natalia: Milena Smit
• Santi: Quim Gutiérrez
• Gabriela: Rossy de Palma
• Médica: Carmen Machi
• Cliente de la terraza: Diogo Belizario
• Angelita: Tusti de las Heras
• Madre de Elsa: Gloria Muñoz
• Médico: Antonio Romero
• Doctora Patricia Otero: María Morales
• Ella misma: Amaia Romero
• Recepcionista de Urgencias: Belén Riquelme
• Camillero: Miguel Ángel Gorbe
• Asistenta: Aitana Batres
• Camarero: Luis Jaspe
• Elena: Nieves Álvarez
• Invitado fiesta: Bruna Lucadamo
• Invitado fiesta (Uncredited): Guitarricadelafuente
• Invitado fiesta (Uncredited): Javier Ambrossi
• Invitado fiesta (Uncredited): Javier Calvo
• Invitada fiesta (Uncredited): Bibiana Fernández
• Invitado fiesta (Uncredited): Omar Ayuso
• Invitada fiesta (Uncredited): Samantha Hudson
• Invitado fiesta (Uncredited): Palomo Spain
• Invitada Fiesta (Uncredited): Alana S. Portero
• Invitado Fiesta (Uncredited): Custodio Pastor
• Invitada fiesta (Uncredited): Lola Rodríguez
• Invitada fiesta (Uncredited): Topacio Fresh
• Invitada fiesta (Uncredited): Julia de Castro
• Invitado Fiesta (Uncredited): Teo Lucadamo
• Invitada fiesta (Uncredited): Sabina Urraca

Film Crew:

• Writer: Pedro Almodóvar
• Producer: Agustín Almodóvar
• Director of Photography: Pau Esteve Birba
• Original Music Composer: Alberto Iglesias
• Line Producer: César Pardiñas
• Editor: Teresa Font
• Production Manager: Gador Camacho
• Executive Producer: Esther García
• Sound: Sergio Burmann
• Makeup Artist: Ana López-Puigcerver
• Hairstylist: Manolo García
• Costume Design: Paco Delgado
• Casting: Eva Leira
• Casting: Yolanda Serrano
• Production Design: Antxón Gómez
• Art Direction: Isabel Peinado
• Additional Hairstylist: Selmo del Campo
• Assistant Makeup Artist: Raquel Vadillo
• Assistant Director Trainee: Alba Bello
• Third Assistant Director: Tomás Bezanilla Iriarte
• First Assistant Director: Manuel Calvo
• Second Assistant Director: Laura Díez
• Second Assistant Director: Virginia Maíllo
• Third Assistant Director: Júlia Marcos Lázaro
• Third Assistant Director: Ana Lucía Noguera
• Set Designer: Francisco Bassi
• Storyboard Artist: Pablo Buratti
• Assistant Set Dresser: Irene Casas
• Graphic Designer: Gabriel del Boca
• Art Department Trainee: Antía León Castro
• Construction Manager: José Luis Moya
• Graphic Designer: Manuel Romero
• Construction Coordinator: Martín Sánchez Fernández
• Graphic Designer: Juan Sánchez
• Graphic Designer: Pablo Santa María
• Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Valeria Arcieri
• Sound Post Production Coordinator: Nuria Ascanio
• Boom Operator: Daniel Blasco Gil
• Assistant Foley Artist: Carlota Durà
• Foley Artist: Marta Monistrol
• Sound Supervisor: Marc Orts
• Sound Designer: Laia Picón
• Foley Recordist: Marta Vicente
• Special Effects: César Abades
• Special Effects Technician: Ángel Alonso
• Special Effects Coordinator: Mati Palmero
• Electrician: Alberto Asensio
• Additional First Assistant Camera: Eneko Baroja
• Grip: Jaime Baselga
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Oihane Abrisqueta Diaz
• Stunt Coordinator: Miguel Arregui
• Electrician: Miguel Ángel Crespo
• Additional Camera: Gaizko Fanarraga
• First Assistant “A” Camera: Álvaro García
• Video Assist Operator: Igor Iglesias
• Electrician: Paco Lara
• BTS Footage: Alberto Leal
• “B” Camera Operator: Joaquín Machado
• Steadicam Operator: Raúl Manchado
• Digital Imaging Technician: Ángel Martín-Álvarez
• Grip: Eduardo Morales
• Best Boy Electric: Sergio Morilla
• Electrician: Matías Puig
• Gaffer: José Luis Rodríguez
• Key Grip: Iván Sequeira
• Second Assistant “A” Camera: Jaime Serrat García-Loygorri
• Electrician: Azarael Suárez
• Extras Casting: Iván Armesto
• Extras Casting: Natalia Bou
• Casting Coordinator: Cristina G. Marfil
• Extras Casting: Alexandra Servat
• Principal Costumer: Iria Cabado
• Costume Supervisor: Sonia Isla
• Assistant Costume Designer: Rubén Martín García
• Assistant Costume Designer: Eva Salas
• Assistant Costume Designer: Nuria Santos del Hierro
• Online Editor: Laura Imery Almario
• Post Production Coordinator: Covadonga R. Gamboa
• Assistant Editor: Ignacio Ramos Delgado
• Location Manager: David Bienes Paz
• Location Scout: Ismael Curbelo
• Location Manager: Eduardo García Alonso
• Assistant Location Manager: Alfredo González
• Assistant Location Manager: Ana Belén León
• Location Scout: Marta Martín García
• Location Assistant: Chela Mateo
• Assistant Location Manager: José Manuel Pérez
• Script Supervisor: Yuyi Beringola
• Digital Colorist: Chema Alba
• Digital Colorist: David Taranilla
• Property Master: Gara Bejar
• Props: Esteban Cedres
• Props: Aday Cerujo Betancor
• Props: Jorge Martín Martell
• Special Props: Paco Santamaria
• Still Photographer: Fernando Iglesias
• Associate Producer: Bárbara Peiró
• Associate Producer: Diego Pajuelo
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Eduardo Díaz
• Visual Effects Supervisor: Guillermo Orbe

Movie Reviews:

• CinemaSerf: Split across two distinct timelines, this really quite messy and often almost incoherent drama tells us the story of the migraine-prone “Elsa” (Bárbara Lennie) as she recovers from the death of her mother – after a lingering illness – in 2004. She heads to the calm of the black-sanded Lanzarote to rejuvenate her writing career with her troubled friend “Natalia” (Milena Smit) whilst abandoning her hunky fireman/stripper boyfriend “Beau” (Patrick Criado) at home in Madrid. The later timeline introduces us to filmmaker “Raúl” (Leonardo Sbaraglia) who is putting the finishing touches to a screeenplay that bears a striking rememblance to the life of “Elsa” – a fact that shocks his hitherto loyal assistant “Mónica” (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) who had recently resigned to go and take care of a sister dealing with a trauma of her own, and that seems to confuse his loving boyfriend “Santi” (Quim Gutiérrez) whose criticism of his work are rarely controversial. What’s clear from the latter sequence of events is that “Raúl” is struggling to innovate his script and so is – perhaps subconsciously, perhaps not – relying on his own and other’s real life experiences to craft his opus and that his determination to complete it may be clouding his judgement and certainly risking his relationships. How is he going to address this dilemma and is “Elsa” ever going to emerge from her self-imposed island exile? Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this, but there seemed to be gaps – and lots of them – that not only made following the nuances of the plot quite difficult but also meant that for much of the film there just wasn’t much by way of cohesion amidst a collection of largely undercooked characterisations. We are left to make just one too many assumptions about the links between the characters until auteur Almodóvar decides to read us into something that makes a little more sense, but by that point I had rather lost interest. We dart between the scenarios easily enough, but the plot is further complicated by partial flashbacks and by what passes for it’s conclusion I felt that the degree of almost forensic attention required to make much from this didn’t really pay off. There was only one other person in the cinema for this screening and I left wondering if perhaps this director’s bubble might have burst? His imagination here lacks the sharpness and controversial subtexts that I have long enjoyed and verges all too closely on the melodramatic – and nobody here on or behind the screen really sets anything alight. Criado does a decent striptease, though…!