Bitter Christmas

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1:05

Bitter Christmas

R

In Theaters Nov 13

1h 51m

Drama

Comedy

Holiday

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

66 Reviews

Popcornmeter

0 Verified Ratings

Bitter Christmas tells two alternating stories, one starring Elsa, an advertising director, in 2004, during a long weekend in December. The second takes place in 2026 and stars Raúl, a screenwriter and director who is writing a script that we soon discover is the story of Elsa, her boyfriend Bonifacio, and her friends Patricia and Natalia. Mixed with fiction, Elsa is, in a way, Raúl's alter ego, who, like him, resorts to autofiction as a solution to a long period of creative drought. He looks inside himself, and he can't help but also look at the people who make up his most intimate universe: his partner and his assistant. The film narrates the close relationship between reality and fiction, between inspiration and life, exploring the limits of autofiction and stories within stories.

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In Theaters Nov 13

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Critics Consensus

A visually dazzling and effortlessly fluid late-period Almodóvar entry, Bitter Christmas charms with its well-crafted characters, comic rhythms, and nested storytelling.

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Pedro Almodóvar

Director

Bárbara Lennie

Elsa

Leonardo Sbaraglia

Raúl Rossetti

Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

Mónica

Victoria Luengo

Patricia

Patrick Criado

Bonifacio

Ty Burr

Ty Burr's Watch List (Substack)

Sep 16, 2026

4/4

A fair amount of folks are dismissing this as Minor Pedro, and for much of its running it seems to be, entertainingly so. But I see a master at dusk, spinning the expanding, empathetic tales he knows will be his last.

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Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

Sep 13, 2026

2/4

The film is less self-examination than self-pity, and it arguably feels like outright theft from the lives of people close to Pedro Almodóvar.

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Mark Kermode

Kermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube)

Aug 31, 2026

It's not bad, it's just not particularly good.

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Rachel Wagner

Rachel's Reviews (YouTube)

9 hrs ago

contains that Almodóvar charm.

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Frank J. Avella

The Contending

3 days ago

B+

The auteur seems to be having a blast looking inward and outward and, also, having great fun with the medium and himself and his captivating characters. Art is life is art. Does anyone have the right to dictate what a creative artist writes about...

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Sarah Manvel

Movies We Texted About

5 days ago

Mr. Almodóvar is clearly working through some stuff, and even his weakest work is always worth a look, but this was a film made for him to make, and not for audiences to watch.

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Omri S

@Omri.sTenenbaum Aug 25, 2026

It’s not a good film, but it’s a brave film

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Dani G

@RT81139271 Aug 1, 2026

Mature... Reflexive... In the same line as Almodovar's recent work

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I S

@gidkYs-xyxsyc-tycbi8 Jul 11, 2026

I give it half a star so thaht I can write this review but would gladly give it none. That it has very good actors is no doubt. All have made excellent movies in the past, but the problem is clearly not the acting tbut the script, the story or should I say the non-story. It is just simply one of the worst movies I have seen in a very long time. The trama moves aimlessly through time... which becomes unbearable as I waited desperately to see the word FIN...the end just to say I had been able to conquer the boredom and disbelief that this movie actually made it to the theaters. Someone close to Almodovar should be honest with him with the movie or the idea behind the movie just doesn't work. There is no need to pretend this is just a colorful, nicely photographed, terrible movie.

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Doug R

@DouggyRand Jun 13, 2026

Almodavar is a generational filmmaker but this one will be lost to time.

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Alejandro E

@Alex970 Jun 5, 2026

El mayor temor de todo cineasta, la página en blanco, en una trama que sabe combinar lo real y lo fantástico de manera que sea fácil para el espectador seguir la pista sin abrumarlo a base de sub tramas.

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Wellington A

@RT34692909 Jun 3, 2026

Adorei como ele desenvolve o filme e engana você até um certo ponto... a partir do momento que você entende de fato o que está acontecendo, tudo fica fantástico. Atenção às cores das camisas dos personagens por favor.

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Bitter Christmas: Teaser Trailer

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Synopsis

Bitter Christmas tells two alternating stories, one starring Elsa, an advertising director, in 2004, during a long weekend in December. The second takes place in 2026 and stars Raúl, a screenwriter and director who is writing a script that we soon discover is the story of Elsa, her boyfriend Bonifacio, and her friends Patricia and Natalia. Mixed with fiction, Elsa is, in a way, Raúl's alter ego, who, like him, resorts to autofiction as a solution to a long period of creative drought. He looks inside himself, and he can't help but also look at the people who make up his most intimate universe: his partner and his assistant. The film narrates the close relationship between reality and fiction, between inspiration and life, exploring the limits of autofiction and stories within stories.

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Producer: Agustín Almodóvar
Screenwriter: Pedro Almodóvar
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Movistar Plus+, El Deseo, Radio Televisión Española (RTVE), Instituto de la Cinematografía y de las Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA), Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO)
Rating: R (Some Sexual Material|Language)
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Holiday
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 13, 2026, Limited
Runtime: 1h 51m

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