Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- campy
- provocative
- lurid
- arthouse film night
- almodóvar retrospective
What critics said
Critics found the film inventive, provocative, and sharply satirical toward invasive tabloid television, while often faulting its overlong, uneven execution.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Kika's relationships, the suspicious death, sexual violence, and sensational revelations are presented through flamboyant black humor.
Andrea Scarface uses her television platform to intrude on and exploit intimate crises.
The Madrid mansion, eccentric costumes, grotesque situations, and heightened performances create a deliberately extravagant register.
Ramón's apparent death, Kika's affair with Nicholas, and the concealed circumstances surrounding the family are built around audience-aware misunderstandings.
Films like Kika, and why
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
shared campy melodrama, sexual entanglements, media satire, and flamboyant characterisation
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
shared provocative black comedy, dysfunctional relationships, taboo subjects, and heightened visual style
To Die For
shared mordant humor, sensationalist media critique, erotic melodrama, and transgressive storytelling
Movie Details
- Director
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Release Date
- 1993-10-29
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Rating
- 6.4 / 10 (330)
Cast
- Verónica Forqué
- Victoria Abril
- Peter Coyote
- Rossy de Palma
- Àlex Casanovas
- Santiago Lajusticia
- Bibiana Fernández
- Anabel Alonso
- Jesús Bonilla
- Karra Elejalde
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Kika about?
- A cosmetologist's attempt at domestic happiness becomes a lurid Madrid circus of erotic deception, family secrets, and tabloid voyeurism.
- What is Kika like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Kika as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Kika violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Kika as moderate.
- What did critics think of Kika?
- Critics found the film inventive, provocative, and sharply satirical toward invasive tabloid television, while often faulting its overlong, uneven execution.
- Which films are like Kika?
- Films with a similar feel include Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, and To Die For.
- How long is Kika?
- Kika runs 117 minutes.
- Where can I watch Kika?
- In United States, Kika is available to rent or buy from Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand.
