# I'm So Excited (2013 film)

**I'm So Excited!** is a 2013 Spanish comedy written and directed by [Pedro Almodóvar](https://www.edgepedia.org/pedro-almodovar), released in Spain under its original title *Los amantes pasajeros* ("The Fleeting Lovers"). Set almost entirely inside a commercial aircraft bound for Mexico City that cannot land because of a technical failure, it follows the pilots, flight crew, and business-class passengers as they face the possibility of death through confessions, sex, alcohol, and drugs. The film marked Almodóvar's return to outright comedy after a run of darker dramas, and it became the biggest monetary opening of his career in Spain while meeting a largely indifferent critical reception.<sup>[1](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=57312)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20130311/amantes-pasajeros-mejor-estreno-almodovar-con-2-millones-euros/615722.shtml)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original / English title | *Los amantes pasajeros* / I'm So Excited!<sup>[1](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=57312)</sup> |
| Director and writer | Pedro Almodóvar<sup>[1](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=57312)</sup> |
| Production | El Deseo D.A., S.L., with TVE and Canal+ España; producers Agustín Almodóvar and Esther García<sup>[3](https://www.cultura.gob.es/en/dam/jcr%3A3d99bd28-d0d4-4bdf-9238-4525711ff551/L1_NumA_2013.pdf)</sup> |
| Runtime and rating | 90 minutes; rated R in the US for strong sexual content, crude references, and drug use<sup>[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3160114689/)</sup> |
| Spain release | March 8, 2013 (Warner Bros Entertainment España)<sup>[5](https://cineuropa.org/film/227407/en/interview/395290/)</sup> |
| Spanish box office | €5,071,560.34 from 714,287 admissions<sup>[1](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=57312)</sup> |
| Worldwide box office | $21,245,677, of which $1,368,119 (6.4%) came from the United States<sup>[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3160114689/)</sup> |
| Critical score | 49% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (63 fresh, 66 rotten among 129 reviews)<sup>[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/im_so_excited)</sup> |

## Spoilers

### Plot and setting

A group of eccentric travelers fly from Madrid to Mexico City aboard a plane whose crew is, in the words of the FilmAffinity synopsis, "absolutely esperpéntic" (grotesquely theatrical). A serious malfunction forces the aircraft to circle the [Iberian Peninsula](https://www.edgepedia.org/iberian-peninsula) looking for an airport where it can land, and the business-class passengers, seeing themselves on the edge of death, become inclined to reveal the most intimate matters of their lives, in what the Spanish film registry describes as a general catharsis that becomes their way of escaping the idea of death.<sup>[7](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/pro-reviews.php?movie-id=587134)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[1](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=57312)</sup>

The action stays inside the fuselage for nearly the whole film. Time Out's Spanish edition called the single confined location a major challenge that Almodóvar overcomes by treating the cabin as if it were a large space, even staging a choreographed musical number there; the reviewer judged the film's one excursion off the plane unnecessary.<sup>[8](https://www.timeout.com/es/cine/los-amantes-pasajeros-1)</sup> The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw compared the result to a drawing-room farce in a fuselage-shaped drawing room, with the cockpit standing in for the kitchen where the hosts frantically cover up disasters.<sup>[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/02/im-so-excited-review)</sup>

The film's title set piece has the three camp stewards Joserra (Javier Cámara), Fajas (Carlos Areces), and Ulloa (Raúl Arévalo) performing a drug-fueled song-and-dance routine to the Pointer Sisters' "[I'm So Excited](https://www.edgepedia.org/im-so-excited)," the recording from which the English title is taken.<sup>[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/02/im-so-excited-review)</sup> The plane itself is named Chavela Blanca, a reference Almodóvar made to the singer [Chavela Vargas](https://www.edgepedia.org/chavela-vargas) and to his friend, the late Blanca Sánchez.<sup>[10](https://www.imdb.com/es-es/title/tt2243389/)</sup>

## Cast and crew

Almodóvar drew on his regular repertory. Javier Cámara, known from *Talk to Her* and *Bad Education*, plays the gay steward Joserra, who harbors complicated feelings for the captain Àlex (Antonio de la Torre). Cecilia Roth plays Norma, a charismatic businesswoman with a secret connection to the highest levels of the Spanish state, and Lola Dueñas plays Bruna, a virginal young woman who claims second sight and smells death in parts of the plane. [Antonio Banderas](https://www.edgepedia.org/antonio-banderas) and [Penélope Cruz](https://www.edgepedia.org/penelope-cruz) appear in brief cameos at the start as a married couple of ground crew whose emotional distraction triggers the crisis in the air. The ensemble also includes Hugo Silva, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Guillermo Toledo, Blanca Suárez, Laya Martí, and [José María Yazpik](https://www.edgepedia.org/jose-maria-yazpik).<sup>[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/02/im-so-excited-review)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[11](https://www.movistarplus.es/cine/los-amantes-pasajeros/ficha?id=1074155&tipo=E)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://cineuropa.org/film/227407/en/interview/395290/)</sup>

The technical team was Almodóvar's standing one: cinematography by José Luis Alcaine, score by Alberto Iglesias, editing by José Salcedo, and production design by Antxón Gómez, with costumes by Tatiana Hernández in collaboration with the designer Davidelfín. Shooting ran from July 9 to September 16, 2012, in Madrid and Ciudad Real.<sup>[3](https://www.cultura.gob.es/en/dam/jcr%3A3d99bd28-d0d4-4bdf-9238-4525711ff551/L1_NumA_2013.pdf)</sup> For the exterior shots of the aircraft, the production used the runways of the Ciudad Real airport, a largely unused facility south of Madrid.<sup>[12](https://www.lemonde.fr/espagne/article/2012/09/04/l-aeroport-fantome-de-ciudad-real-decor-de-cinema-pour-almodovar_5982189_1616947.html)</sup>

## Release and box office

The film opened in Spain on March 8, 2013, distributed by Warner Bros Entertainment España, and rolled out through Europe over the following weeks, reaching the United Kingdom on May 3 and the United States on June 28 through [Sony Pictures Classics](https://www.edgepedia.org/sony-pictures-classics).<sup>[5](https://cineuropa.org/film/227407/en/interview/395290/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.blu-ray.com/Im-So-Excited/193278/)</sup> Its North American premiere was the opening-night film of the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 13, 2013.<sup>[14](https://www.filmindependent.org/press-releases/pedro-almodovars-im-so-excited-for-opening-night-at-2013-los-angeles-film-festival/)</sup>

**Commercial performance.** The Spanish opening weekend brought in €1,930,000 from about 255,000 spectators, which the producer El Deseo announced as the best monetary debut of Almodóvar's filmography and his second-best debut by spectators, behind only *[Volver](https://www.edgepedia.org/volver)* (2006).<sup>[2](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20130311/amantes-pasajeros-mejor-estreno-almodovar-con-2-millones-euros/615722.shtml)</sup> The run finished at €5,071,560.34 and 714,287 admissions in Spain.<sup>[1](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=57312)</sup> In the United States the film grossed $1,368,119, about 6.4 percent of its $21,245,677 worldwide total, from a widest release of 99 theaters.<sup>[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3160114689/)</sup> *Time* magazine noted that it sold fewer tickets in the US than any Almodóvar film in a quarter century, a marked fall for a director whose art-house grosses had typically run in the $10 million to $15 million range in today's dollars.<sup>[15](https://time.com/1785/does-anyone-in-the-u-s-still-go-to-foreign-films-yes-indians/)</sup>

## Reception

Critical response was mixed to negative. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds 49 percent among 129 critics, with an average rating of 5.6 out of 10.<sup>[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/im_so_excited)</sup> Reviewers divided over whether the lightness was a virtue. Jordan Mintzer of *The Hollywood Reporter* called it an "obscene and agitated" return to the director's eccentric late-1980s and early-1990s pieces, best suited to local audiences and devoted fans; Jonathan Holland in *Variety* found it as light and unreal as the sky it plays in, but felt its inability to open new paths made the audience feel it had seen some of this before, and better.<sup>[7](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/pro-reviews.php?movie-id=587134)</sup> Bradshaw gave it three stars out of five, judging it watchable and pretty funny while reading it as a possible national allegory of Spain's economic crisis, with passengers repeatedly confusing the country's banking troubles with the plane's predicament.<sup>[9](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/02/im-so-excited-review)</sup> The Spanish press was harsher: the left-leaning *El País* derided the film as "ridícula," and its longtime critic Carlos Boyero later called it Almodóvar's "craziest comedy" in dismissive terms.<sup>[16](https://www.miriadahispanica.com/revista/d455457a72cec6042a0d5cc841f3f2c7c152f212.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[17](https://www.huffingtonpost.es/virales/solo-boyero-causar-revuelo-espana-critica-ultima-pelicula-pedro-almodovar-f202603.html)</sup>

The film did receive one industry honor, the Premios Feroz 2014 award for Best Trailer, and screened in the Made in Spain section of the 2013 San Sebastián Festival as well as at festivals in Los Angeles, Tokyo, Havana, and Mexico.<sup>[3](https://www.cultura.gob.es/en/dam/jcr%3A3d99bd28-d0d4-4bdf-9238-4525711ff551/L1_NumA_2013.pdf)</sup>

## Place in Almodóvar's career

The film was Almodóvar's nineteenth feature and his first outright comedy since his early-1990s work; critics and the director himself connected it to *Pepi, Luci, Bom* (1980) and *[Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown](https://www.edgepedia.org/women-on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown)* (1987).<sup>[18](https://www.screendaily.com/im-so-excited/5052754.article)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[19](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/aca198web.pdf)</sup> Almodóvar described it as an "oral" comedy, because the characters talk constantly, and "moral," because the journey changes them, set deliberately in an unreal limbo where the plane circles without going anywhere.<sup>[20](https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1004-1.pdf)</sup> He also framed it as escapism for a Spain in crisis, saying that in a difficult year like 2013 he wanted viewers to leave the film in better spirits than they arrived.<sup>[20](https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1004-1.pdf)</sup>

Scholarly commentary placed it as a self-referential pause in his development, a film that underscores the return of his cinema to its Spanish roots while reminding audiences how his work had moved from a local Spanish phenomenon to a transnational, trans-border object.<sup>[21](https://rebeca.socine.org.br/1/article/view/340)</sup> Almodóvar himself later acknowledged that *Kika* and *Los amantes pasajeros* figure among his least successful titles.<sup>[22](https://elpais.com/television/2025-06-28/pedro-x-javis-un-homenaje-que-se-queda-corto.html)</sup>

## References

1. [Los amantes pasajeros, ICAA Film Database (file 57312)](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=57312)
2. ["Los amantes pasajeros", el mejor estreno de Almodóvar con 2 millones de euros, RTVE.es (11 March 2013)](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20130311/amantes-pasajeros-mejor-estreno-almodovar-con-2-millones-euros/615722.shtml)
3. [LOS AMANTES PASAJEROS, production file, Ministerio de Cultura de España (Anuario 2013)](https://www.cultura.gob.es/en/dam/jcr%3A3d99bd28-d0d4-4bdf-9238-4525711ff551/L1_NumA_2013.pdf)
4. [I'm So Excited!, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3160114689/)
5. [I'm So Excited (Los amantes pasajeros), Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/film/227407/en/interview/395290/)
6. [I'm So Excited!, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/im_so_excited)
7. [Críticas profesionales de Los amantes pasajeros, FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/pro-reviews.php?movie-id=587134)
8. [Los amantes pasajeros, Time Out España (8 March 2013)](https://www.timeout.com/es/cine/los-amantes-pasajeros-1)
9. [I'm So Excited – review, by Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian (2 May 2013)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/may/02/im-so-excited-review)
10. [Los amantes pasajeros (2013), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/es-es/title/tt2243389/)
11. [Los amantes pasajeros, Movistar Plus](https://www.movistarplus.es/cine/los-amantes-pasajeros/ficha?id=1074155&tipo=E)
12. [L'aéroport fantôme de Ciudad Real, décor de cinéma pour Almodovar, Le Monde (4 September 2012)](https://www.lemonde.fr/espagne/article/2012/09/04/l-aeroport-fantome-de-ciudad-real-decor-de-cinema-pour-almodovar_5982189_1616947.html)
13. [I'm So Excited! (2013), Blu-ray.com](https://www.blu-ray.com/Im-So-Excited/193278/)
14. [Pedro Almodóvar's I'm So Excited! for Opening Night at 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival, Film Independent](https://www.filmindependent.org/press-releases/pedro-almodovars-im-so-excited-for-opening-night-at-2013-los-angeles-film-festival/)
15. [Does Anyone in the U.S. Still Go to Foreign Films? Yes. Indians!, Time (24 January 2014)](https://time.com/1785/does-anyone-in-the-u-s-still-go-to-foreign-films-yes-indians/)
16. [Brian Michael Goss, on the reception of Los amantes pasajeros, Miríada Hispánica](https://www.miriadahispanica.com/revista/d455457a72cec6042a0d5cc841f3f2c7c152f212.pdf)
17. [Solo Boyero podría causar tal revuelo en España con su crítica a la última película de Pedro Almodóvar, HuffPost España](https://www.huffingtonpost.es/virales/solo-boyero-causar-revuelo-espana-critica-ultima-pelicula-pedro-almodovar-f202603.html)
18. [I'm So Excited!, review by Mark Adams, Screen Daily (8 March 2013)](https://www.screendaily.com/im-so-excited/5052754.article)
19. [Academia de Cine, magazine no. 198, on Los amantes pasajeros](https://www.academiadecine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/aca198web.pdf)
20. [Tiempo Argentino, interview with Pedro Almodóvar (26 February 2013)](https://www.tiempoar.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1004-1.pdf)
21. [Los amantes pasajeros: An Update on Almodóvar's Trans-Border Cinema, Rebeca – Revista Brasileira de Estudos de Cinema e Audiovisual](https://rebeca.socine.org.br/1/article/view/340)
22. [Pedro x Javis, un homenaje que se queda corto, El País (28 June 2025)](https://elpais.com/television/2025-06-28/pedro-x-javis-un-homenaje-que-se-queda-corto.html)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2013 to 2014 › Titles symbols to I*

*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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