Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- irreverent
- campy
- provocative
- arthouse movie night
- almodóvar double feature
What critics said
Critics broadly recognize the film as a provocative, visually flamboyant dark comedy whose irreverent religious satire is both divisive and boldly inventive.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The convent, Catholic rituals, addicted abbess, and nuns' eccentric lives are presented through deliberately scandalous comic exaggeration.
Yolanda escapes police scrutiny by entering a convent dedicated to saving women from the streets, where the nuns protect and absorb her.
The convent houses a heroin-using abbess, a pseudonymous romance novelist, a tiger-raising nun, and a fashion designer in love with a priest.
The nuns design fabulous fashions and organize an evening extravaganza starring Yolanda for the abbess's birthday.
Films like Dark Habits, and why
The Holy Mountain
shared irreverent religious satire, transgressive comedy, and colorful ensemble of outsiders
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
shared camp sensibility, melodrama, sexual transgression, and provocative treatment of Catholic imagery
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
shared flamboyant queer melodrama, eccentric women characters, and darkly comic emotional excess
The Devils
shared outsider community, subversive humor, and collision between social marginality and religious institutions
Movie Details
- Director
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Release Date
- 1983-10-03
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (219)
Cast
- Cristina Sánchez Pascual
- Will More
- Laura Cepeda
- Miguel Zúñiga
- Julieta Serrano
- Marisa Paredes
- Mary Carrillo
- Carmen Maura
- Lina Canalejas
- Manuel Zarzo
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Dark Habits about?
- A nightclub singer fleeing an overdose scandal finds an outrageous, precarious refuge among the women of a convent.
- What is Dark Habits like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Dark Habits as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Dark Habits violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Dark Habits as mild.
- What did critics think of Dark Habits?
- Critics broadly recognize the film as a provocative, visually flamboyant dark comedy whose irreverent religious satire is both divisive and boldly inventive.
- Which films are like Dark Habits?
- Films with a similar feel include The Holy Mountain, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and The Devils.
- How long is Dark Habits?
- Dark Habits runs 100 minutes.
- Where can I watch Dark Habits?
- In United States, Dark Habits is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
