Parallel Mothers feels like writer/director Pedro Almodóvar might be running out of ideas. It’s too reminiscent of his inconsistent film Julieta, which came out only six years ago, and it's difficult to invest in – though there’s no real reason we should take it seriously; the switched-at-birth plot is standard soap opera fare, and would have worked well enough as part of a comedy, something he’s done before. But here, Almodóvar presents it straightforwardly, even inserting a subplot about the Spanish Civil War just to emphasize his intentions, and to make sure we don't laugh at this unbelievable melodrama (even though it may be the first time a scene of curtains blowing in the wind actually leads into a love scene instead of symbolizing it). At least Julieta was relatively short. Parallel Mothers, on the other hand, has noticeable pacing problems that lead to an unnecessary runtime of 120 minutes. For example, Teresa needs to inform her daughter Ana that the play she’s performing in is going on tour, meaning Ana will be left alone in Madrid with her newborn baby. This development barely affects the story and could easily have been conveyed with a few lines of dialogue, but instead it's preceded by a lengthy monologue from Teresa’s play. Why not just cut to the scene where she tells Ana? (Furthermore, Almodóvar stretches out the ‘mystery’ surrounding the baby swap; the issue is that it isn’t worth stretching because we figure it out long before the characters do, and any suspense they hope to create vanishes because we're all simply waiting for the reveal). I'm not suggesting that the monologue, taken from a play by García Lorca, lacks deeper meaning; in fact, I am certain that it holds plenty of obvious significance: García Lorca was murdered at the start of the Spanish Civil War and his remains were never recovered. Parallel Mothers also includes a storyline about excavating an unmarked mass grave from the early days of the war, something Almodóvar should have left alone. On one hand, it’s based on actual events that clash with the improbable story at its center; on the other, it’s a transparent attempt to set up a final shot so emotionally manipulative that you have to see it to believe it.

Source on TMDB