Raimunda (Cruz) lives in Madrid with her 14-year-old daughter Paula (Cobo) and her lazy, drunken husband Paco. Her sister Sole (Duenas) is separated from her husband and runs an illegal hairstyling business out of her apartment. Their parents were killed in a fire three years ago in their home in the small rural village where the girls grew up.
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Their Aunt Paula (Chus Lampreave) back in the village, whose mind is somewhat gone and who claims to see their mother Irene (Maura) on a regular basis, dies. Across the street from Aunt Paula is their friend Agustina (Portillo) is dying of cancer and wants to know what happened to her mother, who disappeared on the same day as the first that killed Raimunda's and Sole's parents.
Raimunda has to skip her Aunt Paula's funeral because she's got a bigger problem to deal with: Paco has tried to rape her daughter Paula, who accidentally killed him with a knife. Fortunately, the owner of a neighborhood bar who wants to sell it and is going on a trip to Barcelona leaves the keys with her, so she hides the body in a freezer in the bar, and then begins opening it to serve meals to a film crew working in the neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Irene turns up at Sole's apartment, starts helping her with her hair clients, and get to know her granddaughter Paula, but dares not reveal herself to Raimunda, from whom she has been estranged for years. Before all the women can reconcile, some secrets about the night of the fire, and even further back, will have to be revealed. This 2006 Pedro Almodovar film features his usual wonderful mix of absurdity, rich emotions, strong women, terrific laughs, and wonderful acting. "Volver," by the way, is Spanish for "to return."
The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
