Pain and Glory

Pain and Glory is a 2019 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It stars Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas, Julieta Serrano, and Penélope Cruz. The film was released in Spain on 22 March 2019 to positive reviews. It made its international debut at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or and won two awards: Banderas for Best Actor and Alberto Iglesias for Best Soundtrack. At the 92nd Academy Awards, Pain and Glory was nominated for Best International Feature Film, and Banderas was nominated for Best Actor. Time magazine chose the film as the best movie of 2019. Plot Spanish film director Salvador Mallo is in decline, both physically and mentally, which has made him reflective. His chronic back pain and headaches, in particular, have kept him from even considering trying to start a new project for several years, and recently he started to experience a persistent and troubling dysphagia. Flavor, one of Salvador's old films, has just been restored, and he was asked to appear at a screening. He has not seen Alberto Crespo, the lead actor of the film, in 32 years, but he decides to reach out and ask if Alberto will help present Flavor. Their falling-out was centered around Alberto's heroin use during filming, so Alberto, who still smokes heroin, is surprised when Salvador asks for some when he is getting ready to smoke. Under the influence, Salvador remembers moving with his parents into a whitewashed cave-house in Paterna in the 1960s.