Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh until Thu 30 May

Pedro Almodóvar / Spain / 2013 / 90 min

After winning the 2012 BAFTA for Best Picture in a Foreign Language with his sinister The Skin I Live In, Pedro Almodóvar returns with a light-hearted comic romp. When a Spanish flight to Mexico discovers the landing gear is faulty it’s forced to circle above Spain until an emergency runway is procured. Having put the economy passengers in a drug-induced sleep, the heavy-drinking crew focus on those in business class. The state of immanent peril, heightened by a mixture of alcohol and narcotics, softens everyone’s customary façade allowing them to speak unusually freely about themselves.

Without specific religious connotations, Almodóvar creates a sort of confessional purgatory, trapping his characters between Heaven and Earth, where everybody can discuss their issues (they’re nearly all sexual) without judgement. This gradual unpicking, the characters slowly shunning their qualms, reveals the neglectful ways people sometimes treat each other. Almodóvar’s surreal reality (typical of his films) means the characters’ extreme circumstances feel appropriate to the narrative but they’re also so ludicrous, they put your own troubles into perspective. The three overtly camp stewards, mincing and flaunting around are a bit hackneyed, bringing a clichéd child-like mockery-comedy, which quickly gets tired – missing a darker edge as with Bad Education. Almodóvar is highlighting the importance of clear communication between friends, family and colleagues and how deception can become a trap.

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