Review: In 'Parallel Mothers,' Almodóvar turns melodrama into gold, and gives Penélope Cruz one of her meatiest roles ever

What’s great about Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is how he takes the melodramatic and elevates it into high art, as he does in his latest film, the drama “Parallel Mothers.”

Another thing that Almodóvar does expertly is he creates roles for Penélope Cruz that are light years above what Hollywood has offered her — and how she never squanders that opportunity.

Cruz plays Janis, a Madrid-based magazine photographer who, in 2016, draws the assignment to photograph Arturo (Israel Elejalde), an archaeologist whose work involves finding mass graves left by the fascist Franco regime. Janis’s father was killed by Franco’s death squads, and she asks Arturo for help unearthing her father’s grave.

Janis and Arturo, who’s married to someone else, are soon having sex — and nine months after that, Janis is having a baby, which she intends to raise alone. In the same maternity ward, Janis befriends Ana (Milena Smit), a teen girl who’s scared of becoming a mother. Janis gives Ana some moral support and her phone number, in case she ever wants to call.

A couple years pass, and Janis is happily raising her daughter, Cecilia, as a single mom. But a visit from Arturo to see his daughter leaves her stricken — because Arturo doesn’t see any of himself or his family in Cecilia. Janis performs a DNA test, and the results are a shock: She’s not the mother. This revelation spurs Janis to find Ana, to unravel the mystery.

Ana has her own problems. When we encounter her again, she’s working in a tavern near Janis’ apartment, raising her daughter, Anita, while Ana’s mom, Teresa (Aitana Sánchez-Gijon), is away pursuing her dreams of being an actress.

Almodóvar, as writer and director, uses these soap-opera plot devices to a higher purpose, to bring out the powerful emotions we associate with motherhood and let them play out in full. Even though it’s melodrama, though, Cruz and Smit keep their emotions tightly locked down — but when the situation is too much to bear, their hearts explode for us to see.

Cruz has never given a better performance, capturing Janis’s maternal joy and heartache beautifully. Smit is a relative newcomer, but she matches Cruz’s intensity and natural emotions at every turn. Together, these actresses from different generations deliver powerhouse performances in service to a warm and wise movie about the highs and lows of parenting.

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‘Parallel Mothers’

★★★1/2

Opens Friday, January 28, at the Broadway Centre Cinema, Salt Lake City. Rated R for some sexuality. Running time: 123 minutes; in Spanish with subtitles.