01 The film that first paired Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, brash and unmistakably Spanish.
10 Best Spanish Movies to Watch
By Vlad Zakh · July 14, 2025
Spain Arthouse slow and atmosphericthought provoking
Pedro Almodóvar’s melodramas and Guillermo del Toro’s Spanish-language fairy tales define most people’s idea of Spanish cinema, but the range underneath that is wider than either suggests, from prison thrillers to Franco-era ghost stories.
01 
02 A silent, black-and-white retelling of Snow White set in 1920s bullfighting Spain.
03 A grief-soaked ghost story produced by Guillermo del Toro, and just as unsettling as his own work.
04 A haunted-house film that holds its twist better than almost any other in the genre.
05 A prison-riot thriller where an undercover guard has to convincingly become an inmate.
06 A revenge thriller with a body-horror twist Almodóvar plays completely straight.
07 A grief drama that turns into one of the great ensembles about womanhood.
08 An uncomfortable, tender drama about two men caring for women in comas.
09 Almodóvar at his warmest, built around Penélope Cruz carrying a genuinely strange family secret.
10 A dark fairy tale set against fascist Spain that never softens either half of its premise.
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