Combine Pedro Almodóvar with stop-motion and you get Adult Swim’s most unexpected yet perfect show

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Among the unforeseen events that have left me astonished, none has been as surprising as “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads”, an eccentric Spanish-language stop-motion comedy melodrama, which is reminiscent of a Pedro Almodóvar film’s aesthetic style from the 1980s. (This production will debut at midnight on Sunday on Adult Swim, a platform known for showing the unusual, and it will premiere the following day on HBO Max.)

Although the setting is Ecuador, the main character, Marioneta Negocios (Pepa Pallarés), is of Spanish origin, and it’s quite easy to visualize Almodóvar’s muse Carmen Maura in the role. However, it’s hard to imagine this story unfolding differently or even at all in any other manner. When I describe this series as ‘perfect,’ I do so not because everything functions flawlessly, but because there’s no comparable standard against which to measure it – it exists within its own unique and self-created realm. Each component is essential. Translating it into English would rob it of its romantic, dramatic, telenovelistic charm.

In the heart of this tale, we find the cuy – a creature that serves as both pet and food in Andean South America, with an unusual twist: it’s also utilized in a form of bullfighting. In some regions, these cuys are big enough to ride upon. The main plot revolves around a power tussle between Marioneta, a prominent figure advocating for the cuy as a household pet rather than a meal, and Doña Quispe (Laura Torres), who ascended from a humble butcher’s life to become the powerful CEO of El Cuchillo, a renowned restaurant in the country.

The lives of Coquita Buenasuerte (Gabriela Cartol), Marioneta’s cheerful assistant; Espada Muleta (Kerygma Flores), a matadora infatuated with Marioneta; Nina (Nicole Vazquez), Doña Quispe’s vegetarian daughter working for a pro-guinea pig organization as its Minister of Refreshments and Head of Recruitment for Rebellious Teens, who expresses her disdain for capitalist systems through her perspective as a guinea pig in a cage – implying she will be manipulated by the older women’s schemes.

Not everything will be as it seems.

The series titled “eight 11-minute episodes,” masterminded by Gonzalo Cordova (a notable figure in “Tuca & Bertie” and “Adam Ruins Everything”) and produced by Cinema Fantasma, a renowned Mexican animation studio, offers an intriguing compilation of storylines. The series boasts elements of mystery, suspense, horror, revenge, steamy romance with a hint of adult content (including puppet love scenes), masked pursuers, avant-garde art performances, love notes delivered with knives, satirical reinterpretations of TV shows and advertisements, resurfacing old secrets, and even nuns belting out karaoke.

The art of stop motion animation, from Gumby to Rudolph, Wallace and Gromit, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and beyond, holds a unique charm that makes it stand out among other forms of animation. It’s not the most lifelike, but its three-dimensional, handcrafted nature gives it an authentic feel, bordering on reality, yet with a quirky, endearing awkwardness. It’s a larger-than-life extension of childhood playtime, where the puppets have come alive from the hands of their puppeteers. The ingenuity behind the creation process is just as significant, if not more so, than the smoothness of the final product. Women Wearing Shoulder Pads exhibits various clever tricks, some noticeable and others accepted as part of the experience – and at times, it even integrates live-action hands or mouths for added effect. The world portrayed is over-the-top, fitting for its dramatic nature, but it manages to be emotionally resonant, even poignant, while still being a joy to watch.

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2025-08-16 20:01