by Alex Billington
June 18, 2026
Source: Twitter
“You need to enjoy things more. Go out, live! Not everything is about writing and making films.” But isn’t it? Curzon Films in the UK has revealed their full official trailer for the film Bitter Christmas, the latest Pedro Almodóvar film from this year. It already opened in Spain back in March to mixed reviews. Then it premiered at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival also to mixed reviews. Now it has an August release date set for the UK but nothing confirmed for the US yet. During a long December holiday weekend, a woman, whose mother died recently, throws herself into more work as a form of escape. Her relentless pace is interrupted when a panic attack forces her to take a break. She travels to Lanzarote with her friend Patricia while her partner Bonifacio stays in Madrid. In 2026, a filmmaker turns her story into a screenplay, blurring the lines between reality, fiction, and the people closest to him. This stars Bárbara Lennie, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, Victoria Luengo (also in The Beloved), Patrick Criado, Milena Smit, Quim Gutiérrez, Rossy de Palma, Carmen Machi, & Gloria Muñoz. We also featured the original Spanish trailer for this earlier in the year. As nice as it is to always see a new Almodovar film, there doesn’t seem to be much good buzz for this one at all. It’s a meta story about Almodovar writing his scripts and it gets weird.
Here’s the new official UK trailer (+ poster) for Pedro Almodovar’s film Bitter Christmas, from Twitter:
You can watch the first teaser for Almodovar’s Amarga Navidad film right here + the full Spanish trailer.
After her mother dies in December, advertising director Elsa (Bárbara Lennie) immerses herself in work to cope. When a panic attack forces her to take a break, she decides to travel to Lanzarote with her friend Patricia while her partner Bonifacio stays in Madrid. Amarga Navidad, also known as Bitter Christmas, is written and directed by beloved Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, director of many films including Dark Habits, Matador, Law of Desire, Tie Me Up Tie Me Down, High Heels, All About My Mother, Talk to Her, Bad Education, Volver, Broken Embraces, The Skin I Live In, I’m So Excited, Julieta, Pain & Glory, The Human Voice, Parallel Mothers, the short film Strange Way of Life, and The Room Next Door most recently. Produced by Agustín Almodóvar. Made by El Deseo. WB released Almodóvar’s Amarga Navidad in Spanish cinemas in March earlier this year and it also played in Cannes. Curzon will debut the film in UK cinemas starting August 28th, 2026 and it will finally open in the US later this year. Anyone still into it?
