
Matador
1986, Comedy/Drama, 1h 42m
26 Reviews 10,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Intertwining murder and seduction, Pedro Almodóvar's Matador is a provocative thriller that will shock even the most adventurous moviegoers. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
Cast & Crew
María Cardenal
Ángel
Diego Montez
Eva
Berta Giménez
Pilar
Critic Reviews for Matador
All Critics (26) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (2)
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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.
January 30, 2020 | Full Review… -
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.
January 30, 2020 | Full Review… -
If Blue Velvet raised eyebrows, Matador will have some moviegoers blinking in disbelief.
January 30, 2020 | Full Review… -
One of Almodovar's better features, although, like many of the others, it partially plays the role of popularizing stronger stuff, and resorts to some contrived plot devices in order to fuse its diverse story elements.
January 30, 2020 | Full Review… -
Not so much a maelstrom as a mess of contrived eroticism, pretentious dialogue, and voyeuristic sensationalism, Almodóvar's silly, cod-philosophical whodunit impresses only for its bravado.
January 30, 2020 | Full Review… -
Screamingly funny, intriguing meditation on sex and violence, delving sacrilegiosuly into the Almodovarish underpinnings of that arch Spanish ritual, the bullfight.
January 30, 2020 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Audience Reviews for Matador
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Feb 11, 2014The film starts with a strong narrative and story but soon falls into silly supernatural, cop-out storytelling that discredits the entire film with its abrupt and unwarranted shift in story to dig its way out of a plot hole Almodóvar couldn't fix.Jason 123 D Super Reviewer
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May 20, 2013Very dark for Almodovar. It's almost a giallo.Marcus W Super Reviewer
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Nov 20, 2012Looking past all the absurdities the film has to offer, Matador is essentially a dark romantic comedy at its core. With passion and obsession meeting fueling the characters' actions, Almodvar steps up and shows audiences he isn't afraid to tell original stories.paul o Super Reviewer
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Feb 20, 2009Whoa! Hahaha! Well well... Who could actually see this coming? Not even the lunatic events in Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios could prepare us for this lunacy ride of necrophilia, sexual tango and sadomasochistic perversions. The NC-17 rating is surely a sign of America's nauseating conservatism, but admit it or not, this film is geniusly bold and cinematically atypical. The first five minutes prepare us for the psychological mess that lies ahead, but I literally fell in love with the climax, no matter the preposterous events that led to it, under the excuse that "there are certain things that escape reason". So what?! The film has several film inspirations behind and is not afraid to show them! The traditional Spanish art of bullfighting meets a provocative sexual obsession. 94/100Edgar C Super Reviewer
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