Film

Matador

Name: Matador
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Released: 1986
Cast: Assumpta Serna, Antonio Banderas, Nacho Martínez, Eva Cobo, Julieta Serrano

Drama
Very dark

Pedro Almodóvar's 1986 thriller explores obsession, desire and moral corruption through the intertwined fates of a lawyer, a matador and a woman consumed by a fascination with death. It's visually lush, psychologically twisted, and unapologetically lurid—a film that treats taboo subjects with artistic seriousness rather than exploitation. For viewers ready to sit with discomfort and moral ambiguity.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like films where erotic obsession and a taste for the macabre get a straight face and a wicked sense of colour, and a plot that doubles back on itself doesn't bother you.

Skip it if you need a brisk, tidy thriller, since this drifts and swerves into farce, and its sexual frankness is not for everyone.

What it asks of you: Runs about an hour and three-quarters, and its mood is deliberately slow, dark and feverish, so it wants patience rather than plot-tracking.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Live Flesh1997

Almodóvar at his most emotionally direct: a story of desire, violence and redemption spanning decades, with genuine tenderness beneath the melodrama. Banderas is extraordinary.

But Less visually baroque than his other work; some find the emotional earnestness less fun than his campier films.

The Killers1946

A woman fatally attracts two men into a murder plot. Like Matador, it's noir but infused with sexual psychology and fatalism—two people drawn together by darkness.

But Black-and-white and mannered 1940s pacing; the dialogue can feel overly theatrical to modern ears.

Bitter Lake2015

Another Spanish thriller about obsession and moral transgression, shot with operatic intensity. If you felt Matador's pull, this captures similar psychological vertigo.

But Even more obscure than Matador; genuinely bleak without much levity or catharsis.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Matador

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

An Actor Prepares2017

Both trace how sexual charisma and psychological disturbance become inseparable; both ask what happens when desire outlasts the conditions that made it possible.

Jeremy Irons as an aging actor in crisis, obsessed with a younger woman. It's a direct inversion of Banderas's seductive matador—here the masculine allure is gone, leaving only the obsession, desperation, and delusion.

But Bleak and static; the film treats its protagonist's deterioration seriously rather than dramatically, which can feel punishing.

In a Lonely Place1950

Humphrey Bogart as a volatile man accused of murder, destroyed by suspicion. Like Matador, it's about the erosion of innocence and the power of accusation.

But Slower-paced than you'd expect; some of the gender politics will frustrate.

The Skin I Live In2011

A Spanish thriller about obsession, transformation, and the violence lurking beneath controlled surfaces. Visually precise and morally queasy in the best way.

But Twist-ending structure means the second half reconfigures what came before; some find that manipulative.

Eros2004

Three directors (including Wong Kar-wai) explore desire, sex and death across three linked stories. Matador-adjacent in its willingness to pair eroticism with darkness.

But Deliberately experimental and fragmented; can feel remote or pretentious rather than gripping.

Night Train to Lisbon2013

A philosophical thriller about obsession with a stranger, moral compromise, and the stories we tell ourselves. More contemplative than Matador but working similar ground.

But Meditative to a fault; the pacing will feel glacial if you want propulsive narrative momentum.

A Tale of Two Sisters2003

A Korean psychological thriller with gorgeous, controlled cinematography and a twist that recontextualizes everything. Explores darkness without sensationalism.

But Requires attention and patience; the horror operates on mood rather than event.

Meshes of the Afternoon1943

Both use visual language to map the interior experience of obsession and the blurring of reality and fantasy; both treat psychological states as the actual subject.

Maya Deren's 18-minute avant-garde masterpiece loops and fractures a woman's afternoon into dreamlike repetition. It visualizes obsession and psychological dissolution without narrative—pure cinema as consciousness.

But Experimental and abstract; if you need plot or character development, this will feel impenetrable or pretentious.

Dancer in the Dark2000

Both are Almodóvar-adjacent in their willingness to meld heightened form (Almodóvar's baroque color and design, von Trier's musical numbers) with irredeemable moral darkness.

Lars von Trier's musical-tragedy hybrid: Björk as a woman whose moral compromises and self-deception spiral into catastrophe. Visually ravishing and emotionally devastating in ways that obliterate irony.

But Intensely, almost nihilistically bleak; the ending is designed to shatter hope. Not cathartic, not escapist, not for viewers seeking uplift.