It's a movie that's too naive to be pornography and too callous to be art. [25 May 1990]
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!(¡Átame!)
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Spain · 1990
Rated NC-17 · 1h 42m
Director Pedro Almodóvar
Starring Victoria Abril, Antonio Banderas, Loles León, María Barranco
Genre Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
Just released from residential psychiatry, where he became a handyman, gentle orphan Ricky pursues his sole pathological obsession. Penniless, hence without a chance to court Marina, a porn actress, he kidnaps her in the hopes of convincing her to marry him. She is a bit reluctant, so he ties her up. Will this approach endear him to her?
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Almodovar consolidated his status as a challenging and bold filmmaker by forcing Americans to drop their zany preconceptions of him and see his world through his eyes.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Jay Scott
In terms of psychology, it's an abysmal failure, too real to be symbolic, too symbolic to be realistic. [25 May 1990]
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
An offensive premise and a pathetic, almost pleading desire to outrage our sensibilities with it.
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is seamlessly crafted yet too self-conscious to be much fun.
Los Angeles Times by Peter Rainer
There's a hushed, rapturous quality to its best parts, though, and the emotional interplay between Ricky and Marina has a scary immediacy that the movies rarely achieve. Almodovar dares a lot in this film. [4 May 1990]
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
The movie is too flighty and uncentered, and it allows actual violence to break the spell when false alarms would have sufficed.
The New York Times by Vincent Canby
Mr. Almodovar's comic invention runs out too soon, leaving the audience to giggle weakly in anticipation of the big laughs and disorienting shocks that never arrive.
Users who liked this film also liked
Talk to Her
(Hable con ella)
Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2002
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Leonor Watling, Rosario Flores, Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Mariola Fuentes, Geraldine Chaplin
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, AMC on Demand, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV
All About My Mother
(Todo sobre mi madre)
After Manuela’s teenage son Esteban is tragically killed, she searches for Esteban’s biological father, a transgender woman.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain, France • 1999
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Penélope Cruz, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan, Rosa María Sardà
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
Bad Education
(La mala educación)
A filmmaker must confront uncomfortable memories when he receives a script from an old friend.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2004
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lluís Homar, Francisco Maestre, Francisco Boira
- Genre Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller, Mystery
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Tubi TV, YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
Volver
Two daughters encounter their mother's spirit after a family tragedy.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2006
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo, Yohana Cobo, Chus Lampreave
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
Live Flesh
(Carne trémula)
An ex-convict takes revenge on those who put him behind bars.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain, France • 1997
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Liberto Rabal, Francesca Neri, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Ángela Molina, José Sancho
- Genre Drama, Romance, Thriller
- Available on DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, YouTube, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
(Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios)
Spanish icon of cinema Pedro Almodovar's jaunty feminist masterpiece.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 1988
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano, María Barranco, Rossy de Palma, Kiti Mánver
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Freevee, DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
The Flower of My Secret
(La flor de mi secreto)
Every woman has a secret...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain, France • 1995
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Marisa Paredes, Juan Echanove, Carme Elias, Rossy de Palma, Chus Lampreave, Kiti Mánver
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
Matador
Unleash your passion. Embrace the bull.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 1986
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez, Eva Cobo, Julieta Serrano, Chus Lampreave
- Genre Drama, Erotic
- Available on MUBI, MUBI Amazon Channel, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Spectrum On Demand, Google Play Movies, YouTube, DIRECTV
Broken Embraces
(Los abrazos rotos)
Facing the past to survive the present.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2009
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Penélope Cruz, Lluís Homar, Blanca Portillo, José Luis Gómez, Rubén Ochandiano, Tamar Novas
- Genre Drama, Romance, Thriller
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Tubi TV, YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
What Have I Done to Deserve This?
(¿Qué he hecho yo para merecer esto!)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 1984
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Carmen Maura, Luis Hostalot, Ryo Hiruma, Ángel de Andrés López, Gonzalo Suárez, Verónica Forqué
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, YouTube, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
High Heels
(Tacones lejanos)
In this melodrama, a tense reunion between mother and daughter becomes even more complicated after a sudden murder.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain, France • 1991
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Victoria Abril, Marisa Paredes, Miguel Bosé, Anna Lizaran, Mayrata O'Wisiedo, Cristina Marcos
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Available on DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, YouTube, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
Kika
A woman remembers the wild and unbelievable story of how she met her lover.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain, France • 1993
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Verónica Forqué, Victoria Abril, Peter Coyote, Rossy de Palma, Àlex Casanovas, Santiago Lajusticia
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, YouTube, Apple TV, MUBI Amazon Channel, MUBI
Heartbeats
(Les amours imaginaires)
Heartbreaker, that's you.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2010
- Director Xavier Dolan
- Cast Monia Chokri, Niels Schneider, Xavier Dolan, Anne Dorval, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Olivier Morin
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Kanopy, Plex, Tubi TV, YouTube, The Roku Channel, Apple TV
The Skin I Live In
(La piel que habito)
A brilliant plastic surgeon creates a synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2011
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet, Roberto Álamo, Eduard Fernández
- Genre Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV
Laurence Anyways
Will the woman he wants love the woman he wants to be?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada, France • 2012
- Director Xavier Dolan
- Cast Melvil Poupaud, Suzanne Clément, Nathalie Baye, Monia Chokri, Yves Jacques, Anne Dorval
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Kanopy, Fandor Amazon Channel
I'm So Excited!
(Los amantes pasajeros)
The crew on a malfunctioning plane to Mexico City distracts frightened passengers with hilarious antics.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2013
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz, Coté Soler, Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Miguel Ángel Silvestre
- Genre Comedy
- Available on DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video
Wild Tales
(Relatos salvajes)
We can all lose control...
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Argentina, Spain • 2014
- Director Damián Szifrón
- Cast Ricardo Darín, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Darío Grandinetti, Érica Rivas, Nancy Dupláa
- Genre Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Available on Starz Apple TV Channel, DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz, YouTube, Starz Amazon Channel, Apple TV
Julieta
This is my life --- it is for you.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2016
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Emma Suárez, Adriana Ugarte, Daniel Grao, Inma Cuesta, Darío Grandinetti, Michelle Jenner
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on Starz Apple TV Channel, DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz, YouTube, Starz Amazon Channel, Apple TV
Pain and Glory
(Dolor y gloria)
Aging film director Salvador Mallo turns to drugs to manage his chronic pain, triggering memories of childhood in rural Spain.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2019
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas, Julieta Serrano, Penélope Cruz
- Genre Drama
- Available on Starz Apple TV Channel, DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz, YouTube, Starz Amazon Channel, Apple TV
Parallel Mothers
(Madres paralelas)
Two single mothers give birth at the same time in the same place, and their chance connection will change their lives forever.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Spain • 2021
- Director Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast Penélope Cruz, Milena Smit, Israel Elejalde, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Rossy de Palma, Julieta Serrano
- Genre Drama
- Available on Starz Apple TV Channel, DIRECTV, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Spectrum On Demand, Starz Roku Premium Channel, Starz, YouTube, Starz Amazon Channel, Apple TV