When I entered the theater and sat down in the darkened room, I had no idea what I was in for. I knew very little about the film and had not seen a single frame. I knew that it was highly regarded, and that star Penelope Cruz was recently nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. On top of that, the only previous experience I had with the films of Pedro Almodovar was 2004's Bad Education, which I enjoyed. Anyway, I sat in the darkness and waited for the film to begin.

Volver opens with a right to left tracking shot. The pan takes you through a cemetery filled with women cleaning the graves of their deceased husbands. It is a comically morose scene that left a small smile on my face as I tried to figure out what this was leading to. What I discovered at the end of the film is that it was leading everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It left me conflicted as to how much I liked it. I knew I liked it, and I am still completely convinced of that fact.

There are a few interlocking plot threads that fit together not unlike a soap opera. There is a touch of the supernatural, absurdist comedy, and Hitchcockian style murder. There are enough emotional wounds torn open to last a full television series; the murder and its results are the stuff to make a thrill seeker sit on the edge of his seat, as is the appearance of a ghostly figure that is very close to the leads and is in possession of a dark secret that comes back to haunt them all.

All of the threads come together in somewhat meandering manner. The characters are drawn to their homes, to their loved ones, to their past, and to their future. The threads which do not seem to share much in common all have a profound effect on everyone involved.