Penélope Cruz makes care look like hard work and anger feel earned. We value her most when a director lets us see the strain beneath the briskness; Volver is where we would start.
Fi1m perspective
In Volver (2006), Cruz's Raimunda looks after her daughter with an impatience that never makes her care seem less fierce. We can see how much it costs her, and the tiredness remains even when the story becomes fanciful. Pedro Almodóvar understands how much comedy there is in her briskness, and how little distance separates it from distress. José Luis Alcaine gives the colours force without making Raimunda's work look easy; the singing close-up allows us to study her face. We were moved by the way it reveals feelings her busyness elsewhere keeps hidden.
The partnership with Almodóvar began with Live Flesh (1997) and continued with All About My Mother (1999). English-language roles such as Vanilla Sky (2001) followed, but did not end it. She returned to him for Broken Embraces (2009) and Parallel Mothers (2021). We would put that continuing collaboration at the centre of her work, with Volver the clearest reason, though its treatment of forgiveness can be too comfortable.
Michael Mann's Ferrari (2023) shows how useful that impatience can be in a stiffer film. As Laura Ferrari, Cruz directs her grief at bankers, priests and her husband, making the fury feel like something she needs to get through the day. Mann's domestic scenes are often talky and airless, but hers have urgency. We recommend it for her and the racing; the house scenes without her are harder work.
The Invite (2026) gives her a more sociable way of unsettling people. Olivia Wilde casts her as Piña, a psychotherapist whose warmth comes with rather more interest in the neighbours than is comfortable. Cruz lets the amusement show without making Piña harmless, and Wilde knows when to leave the camera with her. The dinner-party film has a sagging middle and never quite loses the feel of a filmed play, but the four actors make the evening worth staying for.
In Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride (2026), Cruz is among the supporting players whose arrival promises a subplot the film barely develops. A distinctive entrance can only do so much when the writing stops there. Choose Volver if the attraction is Cruz herself, and allow its slower conversations their time.
Biography
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. She made her feature film debut in Jamón Jamón (1992) after a television debut the previous year.
Cruz has appeared in numerous Spanish and English-language films. Her credits include All About My Mother (1999), Vanilla Sky (2001), Blow (2001), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Ferrari (2023) as Laura Ferrari. She is also credited in the forthcoming films The Bride! (2026) as Myrna Malloy and The Invite (2026). She has collaborated repeatedly with director Pedro Almodóvar.
For her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Cruz received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has also been nominated for the award for performances in Volver (2006), Nine (2009) and Parallel Mothers (2021).
