Overview
A housewife navigates the chaos of her dysfunctional family, leading to a shocking crime.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- sardonic
- irreverent
- frantic
- arthouse movie night
- dark comedy night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a distinctive, darkly comic and socially observant portrait of dysfunctional working-class life.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Gloria’s cramped apartment contains a forger husband, addicted relatives, a drug-dealing son, and escalating family crises.
The murder, addiction, prostitution, and family dysfunction are embedded in an exaggerated comic register.
Gloria cleans houses and struggles to sustain a family burdened by poverty, addiction, and instability.
The tiny Madrid apartment and working-class neighborhood become stages for exaggerated familial and criminal drama.
Films like What Have I Done to Deserve This?, and why
The Addams Family
shared blackly comic domestic dysfunction, mordant social satire, and heightened family melodrama
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
shared irreverent comedy-drama, eccentric characters, and queer-inflected emotional chaos
The Rose Tattoo
shared working-class domestic pressure, dark humor, and morally unruly ensemble storytelling
Movie Details
- Director
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Release Date
- 1984-10-25
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (275)
Cast
- Carmen Maura
- Luis Hostalot
- Ryo Hiruma
- Ángel de Andrés López
- Gonzalo Suárez
- Verónica Forqué
- Juan Martínez
- Chus Lampreave
- Kiti Mánver
- Sonia Hohmann
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- 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 What Have I Done to Deserve This? about?
- A beleaguered Madrid housewife navigates poverty, addiction, queer family tensions, and an absurd murder in Pedro Almodóvar’s ferociously comic domestic melodrama.
- What is What Have I Done to Deserve This? like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of What Have I Done to Deserve This? as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is What Have I Done to Deserve This? violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in What Have I Done to Deserve This? as moderate.
- What did critics think of What Have I Done to Deserve This??
- Critics broadly regard the film as a distinctive, darkly comic and socially observant portrait of dysfunctional working-class life.
- Which films are like What Have I Done to Deserve This??
- Films with a similar feel include The Addams Family, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and The Rose Tattoo.
- How long is What Have I Done to Deserve This??
- What Have I Done to Deserve This? runs 102 minutes.
- Where can I watch What Have I Done to Deserve This??
- In United States, What Have I Done to Deserve This? is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand.
