Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Directed by Pedro Almodóvar
- Antonio Ca' Zorzi4 December 2025Not an easy film to review. In one of his interviews, Almodóvar insists that Átame! is about romance. Is it a story about love with a violent quirk or a story about violence with a love quirk? I’ll leave it to you to decide how you feel about that distinction. The main character, Ricky, has just been released from a psychiatric hospital and sets out to find a prostitute, Marina, he once slept with and to whom he promised marriage and a family. She is now a film star. He approaches her on a set, finds out where she lives… and the story takes its disturbing course. There is certainly an element of domination and submission reminiscent of the Stockholm syndrome, but also of loneliness, desperation, and a strange, unsettling kind of love. The performances by Banderas and Abril are outstanding. Banderas became widely known after this film, which was the last in Almodóvar’s first cycle of five features.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Trivia
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was released on 22 January 1990.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was directed by Pedro Almodóvar.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! has a runtime of 1h 42m.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! was produced by Enrique Posner.
Ricky is released from a mental hospital, and knows exactly what he wants to do. He hunts down Marina, a porn film star he once had sex with, and tries to convince her to be his wife. She is a bit reluctant, so he ties her up. Will this approach endear him to her?
The key characters in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! are Marina Osorio (Victoria Abril), Ricky (Antonio Banderas), Lola (Loles León).
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is rated 18.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is a Drama, Comedy, Crime film.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! has an audience rating of 7.8 out of 10.
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! has made US$3.1M at the box office.