The Essential 713, made interactive

Find your next
great film.

Search 713 spoiler-free recommendations from 1916 to 2026. Filter by the night you want—not the list you’re supposed to finish.

Direct film viewShowing master rank #386 on its own—not above the ranking.
Refine this collection

Your canon

Back up / restore my film dataLoading your progress…Saved only in this browser
Artwork
DirectorAll directors

Most represented · 6+ films

More recurring directors · 3–5 films54
All directors · surname A–Z438
ActorAll actors

Most represented actors

Big Three membership
Major award winners

1 selected film

Master Rank balances Greatness, Engagement, and Ease. Sort by Greatness for the artistic-canon view.

Director:
Cast:
View All About My Mother film page
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

After her son's death, nurse Manuela returns to Barcelona seeking his father and reconnects with a vivid community of women.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Madrid nurse Manuela loses her teenage son Esteban and travels to Barcelona to find his father, now living as Lola. She reconnects with transgender performer Agrado, pregnant nun Rosa, and stage actress Huma Rojo, whom Esteban admired.

Why it belongs

Through theater, saturated color, women caring for women, and Roth's quietly generous Manuela, All About My Mother shapes grief as chosen kinship.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Cecilia Roth's attentive Manuela lets melodrama expand around solidarity rather than self-display. Red coats, dressing rooms, hospitals, trams, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Alberto Iglesias's score connect performance to caregiving.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

Plus 1 additional win

No headline-category win to name

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Institutional reference ranks

Sight & Sound157IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score

Great Cinema Master List scores

Greatness8.9
Engagement8.7
Ease8.1

Spanish · Not Rated
Narrative Feature
Mood: Funny & Bittersweet