Review

Volver observes three generations of strong-willed Spanish women from La Mancha, beloved director Pedro Almodóvar's old stomping ground. In Almodóvar's La Mancha, female residents tidy the graves of their departed loved ones – and often their own – in a celebratory weekly tradition, while fighting against an unrelenting wind that is known to cause mental breakdown.

In the cemetery, Raimunda (Penélope Cruz), her daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo) and sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) are introduced. They have returned to La Mancha from Madrid to visit their elderly Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave) and neighboring family friend Agustina (Blanca Portillo). Aunt Paula claims that Irene (Carmen Maura), Raimunda and Sole’s deceased mother, is present in the house and has been her primary care-giver for many years. Shortly after, Raimunda faces a deadly family crisis. At the same time, Irene returns and appears to Sole in an effort to comfort her daughters and reveal secrets about her mysterious death that closely compare with Raimunda's current predicament.

Abundant in his radiant use of color, melodramatic narrative structure and heartfelt praise of triumphant female endurance, Volver fits snugly amidst Almodóvar's cumulative catalog of classics and continues a streak of profuse critical praise that boomed louder than ever before with 1999's All About My Mother. Current fans will be undoubtedly pleased while those unfamiliar with Almodóvar's previous works should not have a difficult time relating to the universal sentiment at which the film arrives.

While all of the cast members perform proficiently, particular attention is earned by Penélope Cruz and Blanca Portillo. Cruz is given the opportunity to show off the dramatic capacity and range that has been missing in her Hollywood career while Portillo is often heart-breaking as the pot-smoking family friend who tries to dismiss the pain that she feels over her own mother's abandonment.

 -- Robert O'Neill