Pedro Almodovar’s ‘Bitter Christmas’ Earns 6.5-Minute Standing Ovation at Cannes

Pedro Almodovar received a warm 6.5-minute standing ovation at the international premiere of “Bitter Christmas.” While the ovations weren’t close to the Venice applause for his “The Room Next Door,” which lasted a huge 17 minutes, the Cannes crowd was extremely appreciative. Almodovar attended with leads Barbara Lennie and Leonardo Sbaraglia and the ensemble cast.

Addressing the crowd, Almodovar said, “I don’t know what to say. This is so moving that I have no words. All the screenings I’ve had at this place, I’ve always found the audiences to be so warm when I’m here. Thank you so much. Just to enter from that door and sitting down here, this is really a dream for me. And I will miss it very much when I will not come any more.”

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This drew a fresh round of applause and the filmmaker was cheered all the way until he left the theater.

The film weaves together two parallel narratives across two time periods. In 2026, Raul – a director played by Sbaraglia – is wrestling with writer’s block when he begins drawing on the lives of those closest to him, including his longtime assistant Monica, played by Aitana Sanchez-Gijon. The screenplay he produces becomes the second strand of the film: set in 2004, it follows Elsa, an advertising director also writing a film script played by Lennie, who travels to Lanzarote with her friend Patricia following the death of Elsa’s mother.

As the film progresses, the boundary between Raul’s fiction and his reality begins to dissolve. The cast also includes Victoria Luengo (already at Cannes as co-star with Javier Bardem of Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved”), Patrick Criado, Milena Smit, Quim Gutiérrez and Rossy de Palma.

It is Almodóvar’s eighth film in competition at Cannes, a record that cements his status as one of the festival’s most enduring figures. His previous competition titles include “All About My Mother,” which won him the best director prize in 1999, and “Volver,” which earned him the best screenplay award in 2006, as well as best actress award for its female ensemble cast. Antonio Banderas scooped best actor for “Pain and Glory” in 2019, but the Palme d’Or has so far eluded Almodóvar. The film had already opened in Spain in March to positive reviews, before receiving its international premiere on the Croisette.

“Bitter Christmas” is produced by Agustín Almodóvar for El Deseo. North American distribution is handled by Sony Pictures Classics, with Warner Bros. releasing in Spain and Mexico and Curzon handling the U.K. and Ireland.