Pedro Almodovar’s newest film, “Bitter Christmas” was primarily a film centered around grief, mental illness and how the blurring of lines of reality and fiction can cloud one’s judgment. The film was a beautiful representation of how mental illness can negatively derail one’s life by distorting one’s perceptions of reality by creating false delusions that are entirely based on one’s subconscious fears. It was a beautiful illustration of how the deterioration of one’s psychological state can significantly influence their perception of reality by making it impossible to distinguish fact from fiction.
The plot of the film is centered on an advertising director, Elsa, who after facing a personal loss over a turbulent Christmas weekend; decides to write a screenplay about the personal life of her best friend. Overall, Almodovar does a stellar job at capturing how mental illness can alter one’s judgment by creating false perceptions about one’s life which entirely diminishes the joy and excitement in their lives. He did an exemplary job at capturing the contradictory beliefs one can have while living with a mental illness. At one minute, they can feel joy and enthusiasm about life and the next they are in a downward spiral of depression and self pity. It was a beautiful exploration of how mental illness can rapidly deteriorate from one extreme to the next. The audience was able to see a clear representation of how high functioning mental illness works in high performing individuals; such as our protagonist.
It was an insightful, perceptive story centered around grief, loss and the debilitating impact it can have on one’s mental health if left untreated. Throughout the film, the audience was taken on a journey through the lens of our protagonist: Anna; as she is going through a personal loss of her own; while trying to compartmentalize her grief into her work as a filmmaker. The audience was taken on a journey where they could see the grief Elsa was still carrying in 2004. In another separate timeline set in 2025, the plot explores how filmmaker Raul is writing a script on Elsa, his alter ego; and is using influences from his own life, his boyfriend, Santi, and his long-time assistant, Monica.
Overall, the film does a remarkable job at depicting two different timelines simultaneously where one could clearly see the overlap between the two narratives. In 2004, Elsa is struggling with grief; and in 2025, Raul is trying to turn her story into a screenplay; by his creation of the character, Elsa. It was an interesting juxtaposition that depicted two different characters from different time periods that were battling similar mental health challenges. Raul turns Elsa’s story into a screenplay; which consequently turns out to be Raul’s alter ego. The film makes a compelling thesis statement that reality can influence one’s artistic work as a form of catharsis.
The strongest point of the film were the performances. The actresses: Barbara Lennie; who portrayed Elsa, Aitana Sanchez- Gijon; who portrayed Monica, Victoria Luengo; who portrayed Particia and Milena Smit; who portrayed Elsa’s clinically depressed friend, Natalia gave convincing performances as women who were dealing with their own life crises in a beautiful, authentic way. The actresses were very compelling in their performances that was entirely convincing that they were going through their challenges.
It was obvious that Bitter Christmas was a deeply personal film for Pedro Almodovar. He crafted a film that was poignant, strong pacing and impressive performances from the ensemble cast. It was an honest, unflinching account into how mental illness can influence one’s decisions and leave a lasting impact in one’s life.
