Taking a page out of the Italian Neo-Realism playbook, acclaimed Spanish filmmaker,
Pedro Almodovar's fourth film,
What Have I Done to Deserve This? is the story of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Almodovar, who has become one of cinema's greatest storytellers of female characters, created one of his most memorable in his 1984 film.
What Have I Done To Deserve This? centers around the devout Catholic, Gloria, who is a housewife that lives in tired apartment with her husband, who yearns for the woman he met before marrying Gloria, and her two sons, Miguel, who is a homosexual and Toni, a drug dealer, and her mother-in-law that makes Gloria's mundane life even more miserable. Gloria tries nearly every way to break away and get a better life for her kids, she eventually sells her son Miguel to a dentist in Madrid and after a heated exchange with her husband, she kills him, and her life begins to take various turns.
What Have I Done To Deserve This? may take place in Spain, yet, the sentiments echoed by Gloria may be felt by any housewife who has been told they are not good enough.
