This book offers a comprehensive film-by-film analysis of the most famous living Spanish director, Pedro Almodóvar. It shows how Almodóvar's films draw elements from various national cinemas and genres, including the Spanish cinema of the dictatorship, European art cinema, Hollywood melodrama, and film noir. Furthermore, it argues that Almodóvar's work serves as a form of social critique, as his films engage with and challenge the clichés concerning traditional and contemporary Spain, in order to highlight the traumatic historical past of the country and how it continues to affect the present. Based on literature in both English and Spanish, the book will interest undergraduate and postgraduate students of film studies and Spanish studies, contemporary cinema scholars, and general readers who have a passion for Pedro Almodóvar's films.