Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
The central theme of the film – female resilience, independence, and solidarity – would be a constant throughout Almodóvar's career, albeit better depicted in his later and more accomplished films. Like the female characters in "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", "All About My Mother", and "Volver", Pepi and Bom are self-sufficient, independent and their friendship is shown as more important than any sexual or love attachment. By contrast, men are either non-existent or presented unsympathetically like the policeman in "Pepi, Luci, Bom"; Raimunda's abusive husband in "Volver" or Pepa's unfaithful lover in "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown". Although Bom and Luci form a lesbian couple, their story is ultimately less important than Pepi and Bom's friendship. While the friendship of these two remains strong Bom's and Luci affair ends when the latter returns to a heterosexual life of abuse with her husband.