La bola negra

Development

The plot is inspired by La bola negra [es], an incomplete work by Federico García Lorca of which 4 pages are preserved, with the title ('the black ball') alluding to the form of rejection to a young gay man when attempting to join a social club in Granada.^[5] It is also inspired by the play La piedra oscura [fr] by Alberto Conejero, which contributes mostly to the 1937 timeline featuring Sebastián and Rafael Rodríguez Rapún.^[5] The 2017 timeline taps to an extent from Conejero's life and, as per Conejero's statements, it is no coincidence that the leading character, a writer and playwright, is named Alberto and is writing a dissertation on Greek literature.^[15] While in the early stages of development, Los Javis declined to confirm whether García Lorca would appear as a character in the film.^[5]

Main cast members Guitarricadelafuente (in his acting debut),^[16] Carlos González, Miguel Bernardeau, Lola Dueñas, and Penélope Cruz were announced by Los Javis during the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.^[4] La bola negra is a Movistar Plus+ and Suma Content Films co-production with El Deseo and Le Pacte,^[17][18] and it had the participation of Atresmedia.^[19] Other cast members such as Milo Quifes (in his acting debut),^[20] Lorenzo Zurzolo, Albert Pla, Yenesi Suárez, Mona Martínez, Hugo Welzel, María Morales, Daniel Ibáñez and Nuria Mencía were announced while shooting was taking place.^[21]

Filming

On 26 August 2025, local media reported the beginning of filming in the abandoned village of Castil de Carrias [es], halfway between Belorado and Briviesca.^[22] Shooting also took place in Comillas, Cantabria (where a man working as an extra fell down some stairs on set and eventually died),^[23][24] Granada (Iglesia de Santa Ana [es], Carmen de los Mártires [es], Albaicín), and Sigüenza.^[25][26] Athens and Madrid were also shooting locations.^[27] The production had a budget of around €15 million.^[28]

Cinematographer Gris Jordana shot the movie on 35mm film.^[29] She used two Arricam LT cameras and Panavision Primo lenses.^[30] Roger Bellés was the art director. Alberto Gutiérrez edited the film.^[31]

Ana López-Cobos took over costume design.^[32] To prepare for the looks of the cupletista Nené portrayed by Penélope Cruz, the team took inspiration from images of Raquel Meller, La Fornarina, and Tórtola Valencia.^[32]

Calvo and Ambrossi broke up their 13-year relationship during the shooting. According to sources consulted by El País, the separation was not going to disrupt ongoing and future professional projects by Los Javis, including the rest of this shooting.^[33]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 55 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.4/10.^[67] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 87 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[68]

Sophie Monks Kaufman of IndieWire gave the film an 'A' rating, wondering about the near impossibility of grasping "the structural effort required to fluidly create one perfectly coherent story using three narratives told across three timelines, each with a distinct visual identity".^[69] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, rated the "rich and rewarding" movie 4 out of 5 stars, deeming it to be "handsomely produced, lovingly detailed and confidently constructed".^[70] Richard Lawson of The Hollywood Reporter underscored the film as "a dazzling mix of contemporary pop sensibility and classical filmmaking".^[71] Zachary Lee of TheWrap billed La bola negra as "one of those rare films that feels both old and new",^[72] while Douglas Greenwood of i-D commended it as "grandiose historical epic".^[73] Siddhant Adlakha of Observer rated the film 4 out of 4 stars, commending it as a "magnificently moving triptych that feels at once novel and like a classically staged military epic".^[74]

In a 5-star rating, Luis Martínez of El Mundo wrote that what the film brings to the table is, first and foremost, "a jolt of baroque, melodramatic emotion which, in its overwhelming intensity, appears proud and joyful even in its mistakes".^[75] Mariona Borrull [es] of Fotogramas rated the film 4 out of 5 stars, declaring it "a sweeping two-and-a-half-hour epic", while considering the third act to be "heavy-going or overly didactic, verging on the corny".^[76] Elisabet Cabeza of Sight and Sound considered that the film's strengths lie "in the emotional excess of classic melodrama to honour the past and its victims".^[77]

Elsa Fernández-Santos of El País deemed La bola negra to be "a moving and ambitious search of the Spanish queer identity", despite some excesses, otherwise featuring a stunning Penélope Cruz in a brilliant scene pumping up the troops.^[78] Guy Lodge of Variety lamented that while the ambitious film "occasionally strikes a poetic note worthy of its historical muse, it more often plays as turgidly overblown melodrama".^[12] Lee Marshall of ScreenDaily described the film as a "stirring, timely reclamation of Spain's history and queer culture" but also as "a sprawling, undisciplined melodrama", otherwise being "more effective as an earnest, cumulative emotional journey than as a viewing experience".^[79] Davide Abbatescianni of Cineuropa assessed that the film "proves rewarding and often moving, even if it occasionally struggles under the weight of its own scale".^[80] Daniel de Partearroyo of Cinemanía rated the film 3 out of 5 stars, lamenting that it "is overwhelmed by an ambition with no way out", adding that "the soil [the film] is turning over has already been worked extensively, and its plough is not sharp enough to cut any deeper".^[81]

Carlos Boyero surprised with a enthusiastic opinion about the film.^[82] Reviewing for El País, he considered that "almost everything in this movie rings true. But above all, it has atmosphere and emotion", concluding that "it is not perfect, but there is something touching about it".^[83] Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com rated the film 4 out of 4 stars, praising the heartfelt language "that unites based on feelings like longing, acceptance, and dignity" as well as the "stunning" qualities of the film on a craft level.^[84]

In September 2026, the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain submitted La bola negra for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film.^[85]

Box office

Positive pre-sales figures were reported for the film, tracking 34% behind Torrente for President and 40% ahead of The Odyssey ahead of the 25 September 2026 theatrical rollout in Spain.^[86] On its opening Friday, it obtained a revenue of around €1.32 million (175,000 admissions), good for the 2nd highest-grossing opening day for a Spanish release in the last ten years after Torrente for President.^[87]

As of 23 September 2026, the American database Box Office Mojo reports a gross of $82,356 in the territory of Australia and $887 in the territory of New Zealand.^[88]

Accolades