Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melodramatic
- provocative
- stylized
- arthouse movie night
- international cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film stylish and emotionally ambitious but uneven, with its melodramatic homage falling short of Almodóvar's strongest work.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film combines exaggerated emotional confrontations, performance spectacle, and deliberately heightened genre conventions around Rebeca and Becky.
Rebeca and her returning mother Becky struggle with abandonment, jealousy, and competition over the same man.
The judge's legal investigation develops alongside Rebeca's marriage, her mother's return, and their shared romantic entanglements.
Singer Becky and the judge's drag persona make stage performance central to questions of desire, gender, and self-presentation.
Films like High Heels, and why
All About My Mother
melodramatic family conflict, female-centered emotional excess, and stylized homage to classic cinema
Autumn Sonata
mother daughter estrangement, theatrical melodrama, and emotionally charged performance culture
Imitation of Life
heightened domestic melodrama, conflicted women, and classic Hollywood influence
Law of Desire
camp-inflected queer identity, crime melodrama, and provocative Almodóvarian tonal hybridity
Movie Details
- Director
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Release Date
- 1991-10-23
- Runtime
- 114 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (481)
Cast
- Victoria Abril
- Marisa Paredes
- Miguel Bosé
- Anna Lizaran
- Mayrata O'Wisiedo
- Cristina Marcos
- Féodor Atkine
- Pedro Díez del Corral
- Bibiana Fernández
- Nacho Martínez
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 High Heels about?
- A singer's return to Madrid reopens her daughter's buried resentments, romantic entanglements, and dangerous secrets.
- What is High Heels like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of High Heels as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is High Heels violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in High Heels as mild.
- What did critics think of High Heels?
- Critics broadly found the film stylish and emotionally ambitious but uneven, with its melodramatic homage falling short of Almodóvar's strongest work.
- Which films are like High Heels?
- Films with a similar feel include All About My Mother, Autumn Sonata, Imitation of Life, and Law of Desire.
- How long is High Heels?
- High Heels runs 114 minutes.
- Where can I watch High Heels?
- In United States, High Heels is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand.
