Bitter Christmas

2004

In 2004 Spain, Elsa, a director of commercials, suffers from a migraine during the Constitution Day long weekend. Her boyfriend, Bonifacio, a firefighter and stripper, accompanies her to a hospital. At the hospital, Elsa insists on being hospitalized in one room instead of another. As she explains to Bonifacio and her doctor, before switching to commercials, Elsa directed 2 films, the second of which was set in this hospital, involving one sick character who was hospitalized in her room and survived and the other who stayed in the other room and died.

The next morning, though not completely recovered, Elsa returns home with Bonifacio. She recalls how she met Bonifacio at a strip club he was working at and proposed that he star in her upcoming men's underwear commercial, which he agreed to. Still in pain, Elsa calls her friend Patricia, who connects her with a psychiatrist and tells her to go to another woman, who is hosting a party, for an over-the-counter pain relief medication. After taking the pill and sleeping for a while, she awakes to see her friend Amaia, who is performing at the party. Amaia sings a Chavela Vargas song for Elsa and Bonifacio that moves Elsa to tears.

Elsa receives a call from her friend Natalia. Two years ago, Natalia was driving when an accident happened, killing her young son but allowing her to live. Since then, she has stopped working as a model, moved in with her mother, and been tortured by grief. Elsa planned to visit Natalia over the long weekend but with her sudden panic attack, this is no longer possible. While Bonifacio works at the fire station, Elsa visits Patricia in her home. There, they listen to Chavela Vargas perform another song, which deeply moves both of them. During the song, Patricia receives a call from Ricardo, her husband, which she does not answer. Handing her phone to Elsa, Patricia shows her a low-resolution picture that another friend of hers took of a man, whom Patricia is convinced is Ricardo, embracing another woman. Patricia ruins her phone by putting it in water; in response, Elsa gives her a pill to calm her down. At the psychiatrist, Elsa reveals that a year ago, while shooting the underwear commercial, she received news of her mother's sudden death, which she could not be present at. Hearing that Elsa has not been able to properly face this tragedy head-on due to the hectic nature of her work, they propose that she go on vacation, preferably with someone else.

Patricia accompanies Elsa on vacation to Lanzarote, where the latter begins work on her third film, focusing on two grieving women on a volcanic island. One of them is gradually worn down by her bad husband but ultimately divorces him and achieves liberation. This character is based on Patricia and parallels Elsa's wishes for her; Elsa wants to write a happy ending for Patricia into existence. Patricia, however, is uncomfortable with the amount of real-life detail that will be included in the film and is pessimistic about how her relationship with Ricardo will play out. When Elsa harshly claims that it is in Patricia's nature to stick it out in an unhappy relationship, Patricia calls Ricardo and leaves the next day with Lorenzo. After Patricia leaves, Elsa continues working on her screenplay, during which she recalls her final conversation with her mother, which happened shortly before her death.

Elsa calls Natalia and invites her to join her on Lanzarote. During dinner at a restaurant, Natalia sees a young boy resembling her dead son and cries. Later, she attempts suicide, but Elsa rushes her to a hospital in time to save her. Upon waking up, Natalia briefly converses with Elsa in a way that closely mimics Elsa's final conversation with her mother.

2025

In 2025 Spain, it is revealed that Elsa's story is a screenplay being written by celebrated filmmaker Raúl's for his new film Amarga Navidad ('Bitter Christmas'), based on his own experiences in 2004 of having a panic attack; she is his alter ego. When asked whether the film will be very confessional by his assistant, Mónica, Raúl explains that he will restrain himself, but reality has a way of creeping into fiction. She then requests an unexplained sabbatical, promising nothing more than to not abandon him and that his boyfriend, Santi, will take over her duties, which Raúl approves of. She also expresses her best wishes for this film. The two then visit a club to film a striptease scene, as Raúl wishes to film Elena seeing Bonifacio at the strip club, only to be told that stripteases are no longer in fashion.

Some time later, Mónica returns to formally bid her farewell and advises Raúl to diversify his life instead of focusing solely on making films. Pressed by Raúl, Mónica explains that she is leaving to care for her girlfriend Elena, who disappeared from her life years ago but is now struggling to attend to her cancer-afflicted son. After Mónica leaves, Raúl continues working, initially writing that Elsa receives a call from her friend Elena before changing it to her friend Natalia.

Walking out of a screening with Santi, Raúl receives a call from Mónica, who shares that Elena's son has died and she would like to visit them to figure out what to do next. While scouting for locations to shoot the Canary Islands scenes, Raúl receives another call from Mónica, who tells him that Elena recently attempted suicide but that they appear to have found an effective psychiatrist.

Raúl has completed the first draft, which he gives to Santi for feedback, clarifying that Bonifacio is inspired by him. However, feeling that the script is a bit short, he immediately continues by adding on the scenes with Natalia at the end. Some time later, Mónica storms into Raúl's house, accusing him of going too far by writing Elena's suicide in the guise of Natalia's. Despite Raúl's protests that Natalia is very different from Elena and that this is all part of autofiction, Mónica vociferously threatens him with violence if he does not remove Natalia from the story. Santi, who has not read this new ending, advises him to be sensitive towards Mónica during this trying time.

Raúl meets up with Mónica at a park to discuss this further where, on top of the criticism regarding Natalia, Mónica accuses him of not having had an original idea in years and failing to recognize that the drama lies with Santi. She acknowledges that he needs to make films but tells him that not all suffering is ripe for filming and that the day has come for him to realize that he cannot allow himself to continue in this direction. Mónica adds that Raúl has lost that spark in his eye from when he would find a story that obsessed him, claiming that he is merely protecting the screenplay out of pride, not because he truly believes in its artistic value. Stunned by Mónica's change in personality and attitude, Raúl tells her that he has finally managed to see her for who she is and should have sought inspiration not from the 2004 long weekend, but from the more than 20 years he has worked with her. Mónica leaves tearfully.

Returning home, Raúl gazes at Santi before beginning a new draft, this one titled Dulce Elsa ('Sweet Elsa'), with Elsa inspired by Mónica. When Santi asks to read the draft that ends with the argument with Mónica, Raúl tells him that even he does not know what it will look like. When asked about the conclusion of Bonifacio's arc, Raúl tells him that he does not know either, and can only know if he writes without interruption, a request Santi complies with.

Box office

Bitter Christmas opened to a €728,038 (96,852 admissions) debut weekend at the domestic box office in Spain, posting a slightly better performance than Almodóvar's Parallel Mothers (2021) and The Room Next Door (2024).^[30] By its second weekend, it had grossed around €1.6 million.^[31] It added €120,400 in its fourth weekend to a total gross of around €2.3 million.^[32][33] By July 2026, its worldwide gross revenue was $5.6 million.^[34]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 44 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10.^[35]

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 69 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[36]

First reactions to the film were "largely positive" but "hardly unanimous", with fans lauding the "brutal honesty" while detractors resented the lack of "emotional impact".^[13]

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.^[37] Pepa Blanes [es] 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.^[38] Andrea G. Bermejo of Cinemanía rated the film 4½ out of 5 stars, declaring it "a self-portrait of brutal honesty".^[39]

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.^[40] Luis Martínez of El Mundo gave the film a 5-star rating, accepting it as a masterpiece insofar masterpiece be defined as a "synonym for risk and freedom, and as another way of describing something new".^[41] Manuel J. Lombardo of Diario de Sevilla gave the film a 2-star rating, lamenting that "everything worked and flowed much better" in Pain and Glory.^[42]

J. Picatoste Verdejo of Mondo Sonoro rated the film 6 out of 10 stars, lamenting that the film lapses into navel-gazing manierism through a narrative game that is both risky and botched.^[43] Carlos Reviriego of El Cultural rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, wondering which other film questions itself as clearly and vehemently as Bitter Christmas does through Sánchez-Gijón's character in a "memorable" final stretch.^[44] Marta Medina del Valle of El Confidencial rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, describing it as a derivative film, delighting as it elaborates in its musical performances, but which occasionally loses its way in self-indulgence when it comes to the self-portrait.^[45]

Quim Casas of El Periódico de Catalunya rated the film a 4-star rating, finding a "diaphanous, precise, serene" Almodóvar in the film.^[46] Alfonso Rivera of Cineuropa lamented that a self-absorbed Almódovar "appears to have lost the ability to create work that is interesting, fresh, moving and, crucially, entertaining".^[47] Carlos Boyero of El País decried the film as "yet another display of design in which the storm of emotions also seems contrived".^[48] Jonathan Holland of ScreenDaily billed the film as "multi-layered, cunningly crafted, melodramatic to a fault and interestingly unseasonal", but featuring "such an inward-looking approach" that the characters' emotions "seem to unspool in a hermetically sealed bubble".^[49]

International reviews were generally respectful for the film, although they were not particularly thrilled by it.^[50] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a 'B' rating, considering the film as "self-flagellating to the extreme but never the least bit apologetic", entailing an instance of "I yam what I yam autofiction at its finest".^[51] Stephanie Zacharek of Time assessed that while the film "may not be as thoughtful or deep as it strives to be", "it's hard to get enough of the too-muchness of Almodóvar".^[52] Gaël Golhen of Première rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be "less pleasant but more honest [than Pain and Glory]. And almost greater".^[53]

Diego Brodersen of Página|12 gave the film a 8-point score, writing that it is in the third act "when emotion surges forth with intensity and once again puts the creator's place in the world around them and their connection with those closest to them under strain".^[54] Alejandro Lingenti of La Nación gave the film 4 out of 5 stars ('very good'), considering that the story unfolds into "in a sophisticated narrative device" "for rethinking artistic appropriation, emotional vampirism and the ethics of autofiction".^[28]

Alison Willmore of Vulture pointed out that everything interesting going on in the film happens in the last act, tentatively assessing that what "Almodóvar pulls off in the end makes the [otherwise difficult to watch] rest of the film worthwhile, but only barely".^[55] Summing the film as 'More pain, less glory', David Rooney [de] of The Hollywood Reporter considered it "a customarily elegant exercise", "intricately structured" yet, staying aloof for the audience, "compelling but seldom affecting".^[4]