While harshly treated by critics on release, of Pedro Almodóvar’s work Kika is perhaps the one that benefits most from re-viewing and re-assessment. The story concerns Kika (an astonishing Veronica Forque), a Madrid makeup artist whose relationship with Ramon (Alex Casanovas) leads to criminal schemes involving Kika’s maid Juana (Rossy De Palma), Juana's amorous, criminal brother Pablo (Santiago Lajusticia), and Ramon’s youth-obsessed father Nicholas (Peter Coyote). Overseeing it all, is the muckraking, reality tabloid television show presided over by the formidable Andrea Scarface (a uniquely attired Victoria Abril). The film attracted controversy because of a scene in which Almodóvar depicts Kika’s rape at the hands of Pablo with humorous detachment, however the moment has since come to be more popularly viewed as further evidence of the director’s tribute to the power of women.