Supermother Libertad and her son Mateo are trapped in a pathological state of codependency. When the young man is diagnosed with a brain tumor, Libertad’s contaminated world is set to come out of joint. Maverick Spanish director Eduardo Casanova pairs these heightened vignettes of a perverted mother-and-son relationship—often verging on the vulgar and brutal—with the story of a North Korean family that has remained loyal to the regime. LA PIEDAD, produced by Spanish genre-cinema icon Álex de la Iglesia, is a provocative set-piece extravaganza presented in explosions of old rose and marble.