Dark Habits
Who but Pedro Almodóvar would make a movie in which a nightclub singer named Yolanda, whose boyfriend has died from a heroin overdose, hides from the police in a nunnery--only to discover that the nuns have more perverse lifestyles than her own? The nuns ofDark Habitsuse drugs, write lurid pulp novels, design high-fashion habits, and keep a tiger in their courtyard. Yolanda (Cristina Sanchez Pascual) gets caught up in the head nun's scheme to regain the patronage of a wealthy noblewoman, but betrayal, illicit love, and a campy musical number are waiting in the wings.Dark Habitsfeatures Almodóvar regulars Carmen Maura and Marisa Paredes, as well as a bit part by Cecelia Roth ofAll About My Mother. Fans of Almodóvar's magnificent later films (likeHabla Con Ella(Talk to Her)) may findDark Habitsa bit thin, but it offers its own charms and comic delights.--Bret Fetzer