Biutiful

Biutiful centres on Uxbal, a man living in the shadow economy of Barcelona. He arranges work for undocumented immigrants and deals with a Chinese gangster, doing whatever he can to keep money coming in. Divorced from Marambra and raising his two children, Ana and Mateo, he tries to shield them from their mother's instability while still hoping for some kind of reconciliation. He also claims a sensitivity to the dead, a gift he turns to his own ends. When he learns he is seriously ill, he begins putting his affairs in order and looking for a measure of peace, even as a childhood friend now serving as a police officer investigates his activities.

Alejandro González Iñárritu directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Armando Bo and Nicolás Giacobone, and produced it with Jon Kilik and Ann Ruark. It is the seventh film in his directing career, following To Each His Own Cinema and preceding Naran Ja. Javier Bardem plays Uxbal, with Maricel Álvarez as Marambra, Hanaa Bouchaib and Guillermo Estrella as the children, and Eduard Fernández and Cheikh Ndiaye in supporting roles. The production was a Spanish, Mexican and American co-production.

Made for a modest scale by the standards of its stars and director, the film took about 25 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 7.2 rating from roughly 1,249 votes, while the critics' score stands at 6.4 from 155 reviews, so audiences rated it somewhat more warmly than reviewers did. At 148 minutes, it is a slow, sombre drama.