Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is about the nature of romantic obsession, and it's the most subdued Almodóvar film I know. Yet the effrontery is there. It lies in the ironic tenderness with which Almodóvar handles his themes.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | May 9, 2023

A superior film with excellent performances. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Nov 18, 2022

This film hasn't aged at all well and really does, in light of #metoo, look like an unfortunate anomaly in the otherwise compassionate and humane filmography of Almodóvar.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jul 1, 2020

If the film has a subtext that's supposed to excuse the gross sexism, sadism and stupidity inherent in its storyline and characters, I certainly couldn't find it.

Full Review | May 20, 2020

Almodóvar ramps up the momentum of the film...

Full Review | Apr 29, 2020

The film's tone is so campy and off-kilter it's hard to take any of it seriously... it's equally hard to find any of it particularly funny.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Sep 23, 2014

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! comes from a transitional phase in Almodvar's career, one in which he was using bigger budgets to hone his aesthetic, create characters with greater depth, but still indulge a punkish urge to shock.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 26, 2014

...nothing much of interest occurs...

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Aug 8, 2014

A curiously uplifting watch despite such a morose subject-matter.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Sep 16, 2013

Though this controversial film about romantic, sado-masochistic love in the hetero world is weak and ultimately disappointing, it's still worth seeing for understanding Almodovar's evolution.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Jul 17, 2011

One of those movies that makes you laugh if you sit back and absorb the entire absurd situation at once.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 26, 2006

Typically nutty and passionate Almodovar

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 21, 2006

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 4, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 10, 2005

An off-kilter - and off-putting - mix of humor, sex, and Stockholm Syndrome obsession.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | May 4, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 21, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 16, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 13, 2003

Psychodrama and dark humor flow freely from this setup.

Full Review | Oct 1, 2003

Perhaps its greatest truth comes from two of its characters watching a movie in production: one notes that the film is more a love story than a horror story. Replies the movie's director, 'Sometimes the two are indistinguishable.'

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 5, 2003