Bitter Christmas

Bitter Christmas
Teaser poster
SpanishAmarga Navidad
Directed byPedro Almodóvar
Written byPedro Almodóvar
Produced byAgustín Almodóvar
Starring
CinematographyPau Esteve Birba
Edited byTeresa Font
Music byAlberto Iglesias
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • 20 March 2026 (2026-03-20)
Running time
111 minutes
CountrySpain
LanguageSpanish

Bitter Christmas (Spanish: Amarga Navidad) is a 2026 Spanish tragicomedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It stars Bárbara Lennie and Leonardo Sbaraglia alongside Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Victoria Luengo, Patrick Criado, Milena Smit, and Quim Gutiérrez. It incorporates elements of autofiction.

The film was theatrically released in Spain on 20 March 2026 by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Premise

After her mother dies, director of commercials Elsa immerses herself in work to cope. When migraine forces her to take a break, she decides to travel to Lanzarote in the 2004 Constitution Day's long weekend with her friend Patricia while her boyfriend (stripper and fireman Bonifacio) stays in Madrid. To resume creative writing, she vampirises the personal miseries of her close friends. In a timeline set in 2025, the plot explores how filmmaker Raúl is writing a script which turns out to be the story of Elsa, Raúl's alter ego. Raúl is delving into autofiction to overcome a creativity block, and is influenced by his own life, his boyfriend Santi and his assistant Mónica.[1][2][3][4]

Cast

Production

In an interview to IndieWire published in October 2024, Almodóvar pitched Bitter Christmas as "a tragic comedy about gender".[8] In May 2025, Victoria Luengo and Patrick Criado were reported to have been cast.[9] Filming began on 9 June 2025,[10] with Pau Esteve Birba serving as cinematographer.[11] Additional cast members including Bárbara Lennie, Quim Gutiérrez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Milena Smit, and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón were subsequently reported.[12] The film is an El Deseo production and it had the collaboration of Movistar Plus+.[12] Shooting wrapped on 12 August 2025 in Lanzarote.[6] Shooting locations also included Madrid.[6] Teresa Font took over film editing during post-production.[13]

Almodóvar billed Bitter Christmas as his "most ruthless" film towards himself.[14]

Release

Warner Bros. Pictures was released the film in Spanish theatres on 20 March 2026.[15][16][17] It will later be released on streamer Movistar Plus+.[16] Warner Bros. also took over Mexican distribution, scheduling a 28 May 2026 theatrical release.[18]

Curzon acquired distribution rights for the United Kingdom and Ireland.[19] In August 2025, Sony Pictures Classics, Almodóvar's recurring North American distributor, acquired distribution rights to the film in that territory.[13]

Reception

Laura Pérez of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, highlighting the "brutal honesty of its director" as the best thing about it.[4]

Pepa Blanes of Cadena SER assessed that the film "features a remarkable and original structure", otherwise considering that Almodóvar has laid his soul bare, almost more so than in Pain and Glory.[20]

Andrea G. Bermejo of Cinemanía rated the film 4½ out of 5 stars, declaring it "a self-portrait of brutal honesty".[3]

Raquel Hernández Luján of HobbyConsolas gave the film 68 points, highlighting Sánchez Gijón's character, and how, through her, the director "demonstrates a remarkable degree of self-awareness", while also missing in the film "[Almodovár's] raw passion of yesteryear", as well as a bit more of a sense of humour.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ Rebolledo, Matías G. (10 June 2025). "Pedro Almodóvar rueda 'Amarga Navidad' junto a Bárbara Lennie, Victoria Luengo y Patrick Criado". Kinótico (in Spanish).
  2. ^ a b c d e f Úbeda-Portugués, Alberto (16 March 2026). "Los estrenos del 20 de marzo. 'Amarga Navidad'. Vida imaginada". Aisge.
  3. ^ a b Bermejo, Andrea G. (18 March 2026). "Crítica de 'Amarga Navidad': el nuevo autorretrato honesto de Almodóvar, un yonqui del cine". Cinemanía – via 20minutos.es.
  4. ^ a b Pérez, Laura (17 March 2026). "Crítica de 'Amarga Navidad', la nueva película de Pedro Almodóvar: "El mayor auto confesional de este director"". Fotogramas.
  5. ^ a b Belinchón, Gregorio (10 June 2025). "Bárbara Lennie, Victoria Luengo y Patrick Criado protagonizan 'Amarga Navidad', el nuevo filme de Pedro Almodóvar". El País.
  6. ^ a b c d e Meseguer, Astrid. "Almodóvar finaliza el rodaje de 'Amarga Navidad' entre besos, abrazos y ramos de flores". La Vanguardia.
  7. ^ "Almodóvar, sobre el debut de Amaia: "En esa escena y en esa canción está el corazón de la película para mí"". Diario de Navarra. 13 March 2026.
  8. ^ Thompson, Anne (3 October 2024). "'The Room Next Door': How Pedro Almodóvar Wrangled Formal Spanish Into His First English-Language Feature". IndieWire.
  9. ^ "Pedro Almodóvar: desvelamos los primeros nombres (y más datos) de la nueva película que va a empezar a rodar". ¡Hola!. 7 May 2025.
  10. ^ "Pedro Almodóvar comenzó el rodaje de su nueva película, «Amarga Navidad»". GPS Audiovisual. 9 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Comienza el rodaje de 'Amarga Navidad', la nueva película de Pedro Almodóvar". Camera & Light Mag. 10 June 2025.
  12. ^ a b Silvestre, Juan (10 June 2025). "'Amarga Navidad': cuándo se estrena, reparto, sinopsis y tráiler de la nueva película de Pedro Almodóvar". Fotogramas.
  13. ^ a b McGowan, Andrew (26 August 2025). "Sony Pictures Classics Acquires North American Rights to Pedro Almodóvar's 'Bitter Christmas'". Variety. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  14. ^ Jiménez, Montevirgen (17 March 2026). "Pedro Almodóvar presenta su nueva película, 'Amarga Navidad': "He disfrutado poniéndome en la picota"". Diez Minutos.
  15. ^ Lang, Jamie (10 June 2026). "Pedro Almodóvar's Next Film 'Bitter Christmas' Unveiled by Movistar Plus+". Variety.
  16. ^ a b Bergeson, Samantha (10 June 2025). "Pedro Almodóvar's Next Movie 'Bitter Christmas' Set for Spanish Theaters and Streamer Movistar Plus+". IndieWire.
  17. ^ "Calendario de estrenos | 20 de octubre". Warner Bros. (in Spanish). 20 October 2025. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  18. ^ Hernández, Liz (26 January 2026). "Ya hay fecha para México: cuándo se estrena 'Amarga Navidad', la cinta que rompe la sequía de Almodóvar en español". Sensacine.
  19. ^ Tabbara, Mona (11 June 2025). "Pedro Almodóvar's 'Bitter Christmas' sells to UK-Ireland". ScreenDaily.
  20. ^ Blanes, Pepa (18 March 2026). "Crítica de 'Amarga Navidad' | Almodóvar se encomienda a la autoficción en una refinada e inolvidable película sobre la moral de los autores". Cadena SER.
  21. ^ Hernández Luján, Raquel (18 March 2026). "Crítica de Amarga Navidad: Almodóvar cierra un díptico con Dolor y gloria experimentando con los límites de la verdad". HobbyConsolas.
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