Taken as pure text, without any analysis, this is a good movie that seems at odds with itself. On the one hand, it’s a fairly melodramatic story told with grounded realism by the actors. And it’s also a film about shared national historical trauma. The two sides, on a surface read, barely connect. But thematically, historically, and socially I think it works. It makes sense.

The movie, on its basic level, is about two expecting mothers.. one in her early forties, the other a teen. Their lives connect and reconnect over the next few years with mystery and tragedy and drama swirling about them. Penelope Cruz’s character is also on a personal mission to exhume a mass grave from the Spanish civil war.

When this film ended, I felt cheated. The final few minutes are focused heavily on the archeological dig of the mass grave containing victims of the fascists during the war. The grief and the catharsis from the actors and extras is real. And I came away wanting to see that film. The one that focuses on the discovery of the mass grave, the fight to have it exhumed, the debate between remembering the past and moving forward, etc.

And yet the film is primarily about the rather soapy story of the two new mothers. The film is very melodramatic with its use of music and story reveals, twists, and secrets. I was often surprised and engaged in the drama, wondering what would happen next, who would speak the truth, and what the reaction would be. This works very well, though it did start to wear on my patience near the end.

I’m no expert in the Spanish Civil War… I’ve run across it in a few movies and was confused until I read up on the subject (certainly not something covered in American history classes). But it’s my understanding that there’s a disagreement in modern Spain with some people wanting to confront the past and others wanting to let it die.

Perhaps this film addresses this by telling the story of two modern women supporting each other despite some personal trauma in much the way we see the women who survived the fascist purges dealing with their own pain, memory, and national trauma. It’s a generational story of the strength and persistence of women under harsh conditions, supporting one another. If one seems smaller and less important, that doesn’t (perhaps) mean its any less painful.

At least that’s my reading. That’s the way I can (currently) understand the two very different faces of this film. I suspect that, being separate from the history, this movie hits me differently that it would a person who grew up under the dark cloud of these war crimes. For them, it’s brilliant. For me, it’s problematic but interesting.

Score: 85