---
title: "All About My Mother"
year: 1999
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/all-about-my-mother"
fi1m_id: "all-about-my-mother"
imdb_id: "tt0185125"
tmdb_id: 99
wikidata_id: "Q329805"
fi1m_score: 88
critics_score: 79
critics_reviews: 10
published: "2026-09-26T03:04:27.402123+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-26T03:04:28.000730+00:00"
region: "AT"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# All About My Mother (1999)

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar · 1h 41m · Comedy, Drama

## Identity

All About My Mother

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/all-about-my-mother
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** all-about-my-mother
- **IMDb ID:** tt0185125
- **TMDB ID:** 99
- **Wikidata ID:** Q329805
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185125/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/99, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q329805

**Fi1m score: 88** · Critics 79 from 10 reviews

*In a sentence:* Grief has to wait its turn when these women start talking

> Pedro Almodóvar’s melodrama is funny, compassionate and carried by Cecilia Roth and Antonia San Juan. We recommend it warmly, with a reservation about images that sometimes look too polished for these troubled lives.

## Synopsis

Manuela (Cecilia Roth) tries to carry on through grief while the women around her face pressing troubles of their own. Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes), Nina (Candela Peña), Agrado (Antonia San Juan) and Rosa (Penélope Cruz) become part of a life shaped by illness and complicated family ties. The women tease one another, offer help and form bonds outside the conventional family. Manuela has her own sorrow to manage, but making room for other people means dealing with problems that cannot wait for hers to pass.

## Review

Pedro Almodóvar’s *All About My Mother* is funny, compassionate and moving enough to justify its considerable appetite for melodrama. We recommend it warmly, with a small reservation about the gloss on its pictures. Almodóvar lets women be entertaining company even when their lives are painful. His screenplay takes grief seriously without requiring everyone within reach to speak in a whisper.

Cecilia Roth’s Manuela gives the film someone we can follow through its changes of mood. Roth does not overstate the character’s suffering, and she makes listening seem as important as speaking. There is a danger, in a story about grief, of turning the bereaved person into somebody too solemn to have an ordinary conversation. Roth keeps Manuela interested in other people, even when attending to them seems to cost her. That is a difficult performance to make look this straightforward.

We laughed at the teasing among the women, and felt relieved that the film gave them permission to be funny. Antonia San Juan’s Agrado is especially good company: her comic assurance stops the sadness from becoming oppressive. The humour also lets affection develop without everyone having to announce it, which matters in a film already so willing to express its feelings. Penélope Cruz gives Rosa a touching openness, though Almodóvar gives her less room to be awkward or disagreeable than we would have liked.

Affonso Beato’s cinematography gives the colours an intensity that suits the film’s emotional directness. Bina Daigeler and José María de Cossío’s costumes help establish how each woman chooses to present herself, giving the performers something useful to work with. The care is welcome, although the visual polish occasionally becomes distracting. At those points, the image looks a little too carefully arranged beside Roth’s unshowy performance, and the suffering becomes easier to look at than it should be.

José Salcedo’s editing keeps the various stories legible, an important job in a film that asks us to care about several people’s troubles. At 101 minutes, it has time for company without making a ceremony of every new connection. Alberto Iglesias’s music supports the emotional openness of the acting without making the humour feel out of place. The changes in mood usually feel comfortable, even when the screenplay asks a good deal of our willingness to accept melodrama.

Melodrama often makes suffering a punishment for somebody’s behaviour. Almodóvar has little interest in that: illness and grief do not arrive here as proof that someone deserves them. The allusions to [*All About Eve*](https://film.one/film/all-about-eve) and [*A Streetcar Named Desire*](https://film.one/film/a-streetcar-named-desire) make his affection for theatrical stories about women explicit. There is no need to recognise every reference to follow his interest in people helping one another. The unconventional families are convincing because their members need not become agreeable before they can belong.

Anyone suspicious of melodrama should allow for some impatience with the weight placed on Rosa’s innocence. Cruz makes the character affecting, but a little more difficulty in the writing would have helped her. Elsewhere, the teasing makes the tenderness easier to believe, because affection need not sound reverent. See it with someone who understands that laughing during a sad film need not mean anything has gone wrong.

*Fi1m score 88, published 26 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics respond warmly to All About My Mother, praising its compassion towards grief and its ability to keep absurdist humour alive within an emotionally forceful melodrama. The performances draw consistent approval, with Roth and Cruz singled out for praise, while the film’s unconventional bonds of kinship also win support. Several reviews admire how Almodóvar brings complicated lives and themes together without treating his characters callously or making their suffering sentimental.

The spread is wide, though the reservations are less widely shared than the praise. Variety admires the ensemble, particularly Antonia San Juan’s comic contribution, but finds that the glossy visuals sometimes distract from emotional realism. Eye for Film suggests that the unusual characters can be difficult to relate to. The New Yorker offers the clearest dissent: it enjoys the women’s teasing and solidarity but finds the seriousness unconvincing, arguing that the sadness weakens the film’s theatrical energy.

## Straight answers

**Is All About My Mother worth watching?**

*All About My Mother* is warmly worth watching for its funny, compassionate treatment of grief, and we score it 88 out of 100. Cecilia Roth and Antonia San Juan keep the sadness from becoming oppressive, though viewers who dislike melodrama may find the emotions too emphatic and the images too polished.

**How long is All About My Mother, and what is it rated?**

*All About My Mother* runs 1h 41m. It is a comedy and drama film.

**Where can I watch All About My Mother in Austria?**

*All About My Mother* is streaming on Amazon Prime Video in Austria, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from €2.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is All About My Mother, and is it suitable for children?**

*All About My Mother* carries a US R certificate, so we would treat it as adult viewing rather than a choice for children. Grief, illness and complicated family ties make it emotionally demanding, despite the humour; the certificate alone does not establish how much violence or frightening material it contains.

**How does All About My Mother compare to Secrets & Lies?**

*All About My Mother* is the better fit for openly emotional melodrama, while [*Secrets & Lies*](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies) suits an evening of painful, awkward family conversations. We recommend both for performances that make kindness convincing without making everyone agreeable. Almodóvar’s visual polish sometimes distracts from the suffering; Leigh’s writing sometimes spells out feelings the performances have already made clear.

**What should I watch after All About My Mother?**

After *All About My Mother*, try [*Secrets & Lies*](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies) (1996, Fi1m 88): Family secrets and awkward kindness, with performances that resist easy sentimental answers. Then [*Tokyo Story*](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story) (1953, Fi1m 92): Family duty and disappointment observed quietly, with patience for everyone’s imperfect behaviour; and [*Volver*](https://film.one/film/volver) (2006, Fi1m 84): Another Almodóvar gathering of women whose practical solidarity survives unruly melodrama.

### Reviews we read (10)

- **Radio Times**, David Parkinson (5/5): Parkinson calls the film an inspired, mature and moving comedy-drama. He praises its allusions to *All About Eve* and *A Streetcar Named Desire*. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-5kcfou/all-about-my-mother/)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (4/4): Ebert gives the film a strongly positive verdict. He praises its compassionate treatment of grief and its vivid performances. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/all-about-my-mother-1999)
- **Slant Magazine**, Jake Cole (4.5/5): Cole praises the film as tender, empathetic, and thematically complex. He singles out the Blu-ray’s vivid color rendering and strong image clarity. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/all-about-my-mother-blu-ray-review-pedro-almodovar-criterion/)
- **The Guardian**, Philip French (90/100, inferred): French calls the film a masterpiece and praises Almodóvar’s deft interweaving of its plots and themes. He also singles out its handling of grief, AIDS, Alzheimer’s and sex-change operations without callousness or sentimentality. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2006/dec/17/1)
- **Empire**, Kim Newman (88/100, inferred): Newman gives the film a warmly enthusiastic verdict, praising its emotional force without losing its absurdist humour. He singles out the performances, especially those of Roth and Cruz. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/mother-review/)
- **Variety**, Jonathan Holland (78/100, inferred): Holland finds the film emotionally satisfying and brilliantly performed, while noting that its melodrama is balanced by wit and empathy. He praises the ensemble, especially Antonia San Juan’s comic relief, but says the glossy visuals sometimes distract from emotional realism. [Read](https://variety.com/1999/film/reviews/all-about-my-mother-1200457283/)
- **The New York Times**, Stephen Holden (75/100, inferred): The critic gives the film a positive assessment. The review singles out the strange, unconventional bonds of kinship for praise. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/24/movies/film-festival-review-buoyed-by-the-strangeness-of-kinship.html)
- **Time Out**, GA (65/100, inferred): The page is labeled a film review, but its article text is unavailable. The critic’s verdict and any specific praise or complaint cannot be determined. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/all-about-my-mother-2)
- **The New Yorker**, David Denby (35/100, inferred): Denby finds the film an unconvincing turn toward seriousness, saying it feels perfunctory and lacks spirit. He praises the live-wire teasing and solidarity among the women, while regretting that the film’s sadness dims its theatrical energy. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/11/22/the-mother-of-us-all)
- **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film emotionally intense, expertly directed and playfully naughty, though its unusual characters may be difficult to relate to. He praises how their genuine problems and complicated lives put Manuela’s grief into perspective. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/all-about-my-mother-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)

## Details

- **Director:** Pedro Almodóvar
- **Director:** Pedro Almodóvar
- **Screenplay:** Pedro Almodóvar
- **Cinematography:** Affonso Beato
- **Editor:** José Salcedo
- **Music:** Alberto Iglesias
- **Costume design:** Bina Daigeler, José María de Cossío
- **Cast:** Cecilia Roth as Manuela; Marisa Paredes as Huma Rojo; Candela Peña as Nina; Antonia San Juan as Agrado; Penélope Cruz as Rosa; Rosa María Sardà as Rosa's Mother; Fernando Fernán Gómez as Rosa's Father; Fernando Guillén Gallego as Doctor in 'A Streetcar Named Desire'
- **Runtime:** 1h 41m
- **First release (Spain):** 8 April 1999
- **Genres:** Comedy, Drama
- **Budget:** $5 million
- **Box office:** $68 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ki8qXRBIFI

## Where to watch in Austria

- Amazon Prime Video: add-on
- Amazon Prime Video: rent €2.99, sd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy €7.99, sd

*Checked 2026-09-26.*

Also available in: AR, AT, BE, BR, CL, CO, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, MX, NL, NO, PA, SE. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2000: Best International Feature Film (won)
- Goya Award for Best Film 2000: Goya Award for Best Film (nominated)
- International Submission to the Academy Awards 2000: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Actress 1999: European Film Award for Best Actress (won)
- European Film Award for Best Film 1999: European Film Award for Best Film (won)
- European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director 1999: European Film Award - People's Choice Award for Best Director (won)

## If you liked this

- *Secrets & Lies* (1996), Fi1m 88: Family secrets and awkward kindness, with performances that resist easy sentimental answers. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md)
- *The Women* (1939): A sharp ensemble comedy that lets women be complicated and thoroughly entertaining.
- *A Fantastic Woman* (2017): Grief and trans experience handled through one woman’s stubborn insistence on dignity.
- *Tokyo Story* (1953), Fi1m 92: Family duty and disappointment observed quietly, with patience for everyone’s imperfect behaviour. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/tokyo-story.md)
- *Volver* (2006), Fi1m 84: Another Almodóvar gathering of women whose practical solidarity survives unruly melodrama. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/volver.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/all-about-my-mother