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      Law of Desire

      NC-17 Now Playing 1h 40m Comedy LGBTQ+ List
      100% 13 Reviews Tomatometer 82% 5,000+ Ratings Audience Score When porn director Pablo (Eusebio Poncela) reluctantly breaks up with his boyfriend, Juan (Miguel Molina), he encourages him to stay in touch. Juan moves away to live in a lighthouse and eventually writes his ex, but in the interim Pablo has taken up with a psychotic new lover, Antonio (Antonio Banderas). Antonio intercepts their correspondence and flies into a towering rage, terrifying Pablo, but also inspiring him creatively as he works on a play about his transsexual sister (Carmen Maura). Read More Read Less Now in Theaters Now Playing Buy Tickets

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      Critics Consensus

      Law of Desire is kinky fun that's as explosively bright and provocative as ever.

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      Audience Reviews

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      Massoud H I saw it and cried and cried. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/02/23 Full Review johann m 🇪🇸 🏳️‍🌈Escrita y dirigida por Pedro Almodóvar, esta película de 1987 trata de un triángulo amoroso entre un director gay, su verdadero amor y un fan obsesivo que pone en riesgo a la querida hermana trans del cineasta, una actriz con un oscuro pasado. Una historia llena de excentricidades con el talentoso estilo particular del director que es bastante intrigante de principio a fin, y aunque algunos de sus personajes pueden pasar por locos de remate, las actuaciones de sus intérpretes justifican el melodrama que se desenvuelve en la trama. Se destacan especialmente Antonio Banderas y Carmen Maura, quienes brillan por sus papeles. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member My first movie totally in spanish language Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member A pleasure to see an Almodóvar in his best state, his most transgressive side (at least for that time) and absorbingly melodramatic that completely surrender us to this story of sex, betrayals, obsessions, entanglements and endless passions he delivers and makes the viewer enjoy its unique humor. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Almodovar strikes me with his irreverence once more, this time, with a love triangle so absurd and yet so tender it made me root for dreamlike Antonio. The Human Voice resonates in every character, and the impossible pursuit for love hurts and entertains as always with the Spaniard point of view. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Is it worth fighting for love even if you're not destined to have it? Excellent movie Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      Pauline Kael New Yorker This wild man has a true talent. Jan 14, 2013 Full Review Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness Almodvar's affection for his characters ... makes his engagingly loopy narrative more than a simple Telemundo-on-acid joke. Rated: B May 4, 2005 Full Review Janet Maslin New York Times What it lacks in depth, 'Law of Desire' makes up in surface energy, with a lively cast, a turbulent plot and a textbook-worthy collection of case histories. Rated: 3/5 Aug 30, 2004 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com This intriguing erotic melodrama is one of Almodovar's few explicitly gay films. Rated: B+ Jan 1, 2013 Full Review Don Willmott Filmcritic.com a pivotal and unmissable piece of the Almodvar puzzle, a romp that is Pedro at his young and kinky best. Rated: 4/5 Nov 3, 2009 Full Review John A. Nesbit Old School Reviews provocative psychological study about the potential devastating cost of wanton love Rated: B+ Jan 24, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis When porn director Pablo (Eusebio Poncela) reluctantly breaks up with his boyfriend, Juan (Miguel Molina), he encourages him to stay in touch. Juan moves away to live in a lighthouse and eventually writes his ex, but in the interim Pablo has taken up with a psychotic new lover, Antonio (Antonio Banderas). Antonio intercepts their correspondence and flies into a towering rage, terrifying Pablo, but also inspiring him creatively as he works on a play about his transsexual sister (Carmen Maura).
      Director
      Pedro Almodóvar
      Production Co
      El Deseo S.A.
      Rating
      NC-17
      Genre
      Comedy, LGBTQ+
      Original Language
      Spanish (Spain)
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Feb 10, 1987, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Apr 9, 2017
      Runtime
      1h 40m
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