KFC Presents: Bitter Christmas (15)
Screen 1, Sunday 11 Oct 2026, 17:00
- ends at 18:56
This film is presented by Keswick Film Club as part of its 2026-2027 season. Everyone is welcome, but Membership of the Keswick Film Club costs £10 and then entitles you to a £3 discount on the ticket price of its films (which are shown on most Sundays from September to March, typically at 5pm).
As it is hosted by the Keswick Film Club, which is seperate from the cinema, this film is not included in the Keswick Alhambra Cinema Membership programme. If you are a Keswick Alhambra Cinema Member you can though also join the Keswick Film Club, and at the discounted price of just £5. Just ask the staff in the cinema if you would like to take up this offer.
Bitter Christmas (in Spanish with English subtitles)
'It’s kind of wonderful that Almodovar is back at Cannes and also in Competition with his intriguing ‘Bitter Christmas’, a dramedy that again sees the master in a confessional mode, wondering about the emotional betrayal that comes with turning your life and the lives of people you know into art. The French title is ‘Autofiction’, which should prepare you for a movie that’s very much about Pedro specifically, while also being about all aging artists who wonder how their work has had a personal impact to match the professional one’ - Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com.
A movie within a movie: the outside one - ‘real’ life about a film director and his problems, the inner one - the film being written by the director. The director, Raul, is having real problems finding a story for his next movie and resorts to high-jacking the life of his assistant Monica, who has just left him to help a close friend through a tragedy. In his film, Elsa is a film director who is struggling to create a plot and struggling with chronic migraines… you get the idea.
‘The Jenga puzzle of parallels comes to feel a little daunting, and perhaps too cleverly artificial. Even so, ‘Bitter Christmas’ is so enjoyable to watch that you almost will yourself into believing that Almodóvar isn’t simply reworking, with certain beats that feel a little too familiar, some of his recent preoccupations... We come for the colours, the histrionic plots, the faces, the oversharing. It’s hard to get enough of the too-muchness of Almodóvar’ - Stephanie Zacharek, Time.
Here, here, Stephanie! As a fan of his films since I first saw one of his films in the 1980s, he is still one of my favourites; I can’t wait - how about you?