In Bitter Christmas Spanish maestro Pedro Almodóvar presents two alternating stories, one starring Elsa, an advertising director, in 2004, during a long weekend in December. The second takes place in 2026 and stars Raúl, a screenwriter and director who is writing a script that we soon discover is the story of Elsa, her boyfriend Bonifacio, and her friends Patricia and Natalia.

The film narrates the close relationship between reality and fiction, between inspiration and life, exploring the limits of autofiction and stories within stories.