‘It is the riskiest film I’ve ever made’: Pedro Almodóvar on being the villain in his own movie
Pedro Almodóvar has released Bitter Christmas, his 24th film, a melodrama about the dangers of autofiction that he describes as the riskiest project of his career. In an interview at a London hotel, the 76-year-old Spanish director, who has won more than 60 awards including two Oscars, discussed the film alongside broader reflections on Donald Trump, Will Smith, Netflix and his own creative flaws, presenting himself in the story as something of a villain.
The film began as a 2003 short story, later published in his 2023 collection The Last Dream, about a director beset by panic attacks and migraines. In the movie, Bárbara Lennie plays that stricken director, Elsa, while Leonardo Sbaraglia plays Raúl, a film-maker writing Elsa's story — creating a layered, meta narrative about directors writing about directors. Almodóvar also touched on his career-long fascination with mixing dark themes and comedy, from What Have I Done to Deserve This? (1984) to Talk to Her (2002), and on why he remains committed to vivid colour palettes despite his devoted fanbase, which dates back to his underground following in post-Franco Madrid and Barcelona.
- Almodóvar releases Bitter Christmas, calling it his riskiest film yet
- Film explores autofiction via layered story of directors writing directors
- Interview also touches on Trump, Will Smith and Netflix
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Bitter Christmas is the new film from the Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, his 24th feature and one he has called the riskiest of his career. Almodóvar, 76, is one of the most celebrated film-makers of his generation, having won more than 60 awards including two Oscars, and is known for a body of work that blends melodrama, dark humour and bold use of colour, from early films such as What Have I Done to Deserve This? to later works like Talk to Her.
The new film centres on a director character, Elsa, played by Bárbara Lennie, who suffers panic attacks and migraines while another film-maker, Raúl, played by Leonardo Sbaraglia, writes her story. This creates a story within a story, exploring what happens when film-makers draw too closely on real life for their work, a practice sometimes called autofiction. The material originated as a short story Almodóvar wrote in 2003, later included in his 2023 collection The Last Dream.
The film matters partly because Almodóvar has used its release to speak candidly about his own career and flaws, framing himself as something of a villain in his own story, and to offer broader reflections on figures and subjects including Donald Trump, Will Smith and the streaming platform Netflix. This positions Bitter Christmas as both a personal, self-examining work and an occasion for one of cinema's best-known directors to reflect publicly on his life and industry.