8.3
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Pain and Glory (2019)
Pain and Glory (2019)
Overview
Salvador Mallo, a filmmaker in the twilight of his career, remembers his life: his mother, his lovers, the actors he worked with. The sixties in a small village in Valencia, the eighties in Madrid, the present, when he feels an immeasurable emptiness, facing his mortality, the incapability of continuing filming, the impossibility of separating creation from his own life. The need of narrating his past can be his salvation.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Rating & Dimensions
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Leans Progressive
Political: Center
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Positive
Trans: Positive
Christianity: Positive
Viewer Rating
8.3
Overview
Salvador Mallo, a filmmaker in the twilight of his career, remembers his life: his mother, his lovers, the actors he worked with. The sixties in a small village in Valencia, the eighties in Madrid, the present, when he feels an immeasurable emptiness, facing his mortality, the incapability of continuing filming, the impossibility of separating creation from his own life. The need of narrating his past can be his salvation.
Starring Cast
Where to watch
Detailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Leans Progressive
Primary
The film is primarily a deeply personal and introspective exploration of an aging artist's life, memory, and creative process, with its central themes being apolitical and focused on individual human experience rather than societal or ideological issues.
The movie features a diverse cast within its cultural context, centering on a gay protagonist whose experiences are explored with depth. The narrative does not explicitly critique traditional identities but rather focuses on personal introspection and relationships.
Secondary
Pain and Glory offers a deeply personal and empathetic portrayal of a gay film director, Salvador Mallo. His queer identity is central to his character, relationships, and artistic journey, depicted with dignity and complexity, affirming the worth of LGBTQ+ lives and love.
The film features a significant character, Federico, who is revealed to have transitioned to a woman, a development handled with dignity and empathy. A minor character, Pura, is also mentioned respectfully. The portrayals affirm transsexual lives without sensationalism or judgment, contributing positively to the film's themes of memory and evolving identity.
The film portrays Catholicism as a significant and formative part of the protagonist's childhood and his mother's life. Nuns are depicted with respect, recognizing young Salvador's artistic talent, and his mother's devout faith is shown with dignity, contributing to a nuanced and sympathetic portrayal.
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
Pain and Glory is an original, semi-autobiographical film. It does not adapt characters from prior source material, historical records, or previous installments where a canonical gender was established and subsequently altered.
Pain and Glory is an original film with characters created for its screenplay. There is no prior source material, historical figures, or previous installments from which characters' races could have been established and subsequently altered.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
7.5
7.4
Critic Ratings
9.6
8.7
More Like This
Leans Progressive
7.5
Broken Embraces
(2009)
Political: Center
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Positive
Leans Progressive
7.1
The Room Next Door
(2024)
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Neutral
Progressive
7.9
Bad Education
(2004)
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: High
LGBTQ: Positive
Progressive
8.1
Parallel Mothers
(2021)
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: Moderate
LGBTQ: Positive
Progressive
8.5
All About My Mother
(1999)
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: High
LGBTQ: Positive
Leans Progressive
7.9
Butterfly
(1999)
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: Low
Leans Progressive
7.9
Champions
(2018)
Political: Center
Diversity: High
Progressive
8.0
Obra Maestra
(2024)
Political: Not Rated
Diversity: Not Rated
Leans Progressive
7.6
Land and Freedom
(1995)
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: Low
Progressive
6.3
High Heels
(1991)
Political: Center
Diversity: High
LGBTQ: Positive
Progressive
7.6
Detroit
(2017)
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: High
Leans Progressive
7.3
Joker
(2019)
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Moderate
Leans Progressive
6.9
An Officer and a Spy
(2019)
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Moderate
Leans Progressive
6.6
The Future Awaits
(2025)
Political: Center
Diversity: High
Leans Progressive
7.1
Jules
(2023)
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Low
LGBTQ: Positive
Leans Progressive
7.7
The Green Knight
(2021)
Political: Center
Diversity: High
Leans Progressive
6.9
The Last Princess
(2016)
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Moderate
Leans Progressive
6.7
Jay Kelly
(2025)
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: Moderate
Progressive
8.4
It Was Just an Accident
(2025)
Political: Strong Left
Diversity: High
Leans Progressive
8.5
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
(2017)
Political: Center
Diversity: High
LGBTQ: Neutral