Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (Spanish: ¡Átame!, pronounced: [ˈa.ta.me], "Tie Me!") is a 1990 Spanish dark romantic comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and starring Antonio Banderas and Victoria Abril. The plot follows a recently released psychiatric patient who kidnaps an actress in order to make her fall in love with him. He believes his destiny is to marry her and father her children.