Matador

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Matador

NC-17

1986

1h 42m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

93%

Tomatometer

27 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Forced to retire after a goring, matador Diego Montez (Nacho Martínez) has since become a teacher. Among his students is Angel (Antonio Banderas), a naive boy so perversely desperate to impress that he attempts to rape Diego's girlfriend, Eva (Eva Cobo). He fails, but turns himself in regardless, also confessing to a series of murders he's recently seen in psychic visions. A lawyer (Assumpta Serna) steps in to defend him, but the police are unconvinced Angel is the real culprit.

Critics Consensus

Intertwining murder and seduction, Pedro Almodóvar's Matador is a provocative thriller that will shock even the most adventurous moviegoers.

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Variety Staff

Variety

01/30/2020

Almódovar unfolds this convoluted plot with zig-zagging surrealism and a careening, sordidly erotic energy that effectively undermines the culturally institutionalized repression targeted by the filmmaker.

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Peter Travers

People Magazine

01/30/2020

The film is fiercely funny, executed in a reckless, raucous rage by the most wantonly gifted new filmmaker on the international scene. Almódovar relishes mocking his country's sacred cows.

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Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

01/30/2020

If Blue Velvet raised eyebrows, Matador will have some moviegoers blinking in disbelief.

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Dave Giannini

InSession Film

02/27/2024

Matador is just one more example of a filmmaker throwing caution to the wind and telling the exact story they wish to.

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Candice Russell

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

01/30/2020

Almodóvar celebrates the controversial potential of the medium more so than most other directors at work today. His movies get people talking and thinking.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Mar 16

Ages 18 and older only.

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Dani G

@RT81139271 Aug 25

I think this is the first non-comedy of Pedro's filmography. It still feels very raw, but it still shows a lot of prowess from its previous films, approaching more the style it will develop in his subsequent films...

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M R

@RT95901422 10/02/2023

A pretty dark comedy/mystery film. Very well acted and a weird story to be honest. But good overall. The performances are excellent. But it's like the whole film just led to that one punchline in the end. It felt quite inconclusive to me, but it works. Grade: 80/100 B-

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05/08/2021

Movie sucks, just fast forward to the interesting parts

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слободан е

@RT88791636 12/01/2020

No me ha gustado mucho!

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11/05/2015

Seductive on the eye, and dreamlike in the fantasy of Sex and Violence. Very convicted and lucid.

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Pedro Almodóvar

Director

Assumpta Serna

María Cardenal

Antonio Banderas

Ángel

Nacho Martínez

Diego Montez

Eva Cobo

Eva

Julieta Serrano

Berta Giménez

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Synopsis

Forced to retire after a goring, matador Diego Montez (Nacho Martínez) has since become a teacher. Among his students is Angel (Antonio Banderas), a naive boy so perversely desperate to impress that he attempts to rape Diego's girlfriend, Eva (Eva Cobo). He fails, but turns himself in regardless, also confessing to a series of murders he's recently seen in psychic visions. A lawyer (Assumpta Serna) steps in to defend him, but the police are unconvinced Angel is the real culprit.

Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Screenwriter: Pedro Almodóvar
Production Co: Stratus Films
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: Spanish
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 7, 1986, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Stereo