The Beloved (2026 film)

Development

Titled El ser querido, the project, set to be directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen and co-written in tandem with usual collaborator Isabel Peña, was pitched by Movistar Plus+ on 18 January 2024 at a meeting at the Palacio de Santa Bárbara, providing no cast nor synopsis.^[8][9] Sorogoyen simply described the production as stepping out of his comfort zone.^[10] Lead cast members Javier Bardem and Victoria Luengo were first announced by Bardem himself during his reception of the Donostia Award at the 72nd San Sebastián International Film Festival in September 2024.^[11][12] The film is a Spanish-French co-production by Movistar Plus+, Caballo Films, and El Ser Querido AIE alongside Le Pacte, with the association of Canal+, the funding from ICAA and Creative Europe Media and backing from ICEC and the Madrid regional administration.^[13][1][14]

Additional cast members Raúl Arévalo, Marina Foïs, Mourad Ouani, Raúl Prieto, Melina Matthews, Núria Prims, Pablo Gómez-Pando, and Malena Villa were announced in January 2025 during another Movistar Plus+ presentation event.^[15][16] In the event, Sorogoyen joked about Bardem's role saying that "it is funny because Javier Bardem plays a film director, yesterday we did a rehearsal and he does it better than me. He starts directing and says things that I would not have thought of".^[17]

Filming

Principal photography begun in February 2025.^[18] Álex de Pablo worked as cinematographer.^[19][20] The start of the film was shot in digital while as in-fiction on-set conflict escalates, a mix of digital film, 35mm, 16mm and 8mm, widescreen and box formats, color and black-and-white follows.^[21] The film was shot on the island of Fuerteventura, specifically in the municipalities of Pájara and La Oliva.^[20][22] Some footage was also shot in Madrid.^[20] The first 18 minutes involving the two lead characters meeting in a restaurant of Madrid were shot in a single take in the first day of filming, involving no prior face-to-face meeting of Bardem and Luengo, seeking to convey better the context of two people who had not heard from each other for 13 years.^[23] Sorogoyen stated to Variety that "the main word I repeated to myself while directing The Beloved, was unequivocally 'experiment'".^[21] Alberto del Campo was the film editor.^[19][20]

Box office

The film grossed $1.5 million during its theatrical release in France.^[34]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.9/10.^[35] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[36]

Mariona Borrull [es] of El Cultural assessed that The Beloved should be compared with Contempt (1963) or Nouvelle Vague (2025) rather than with Sentimental Value, finding it to be "a thriller-style godchild of Godard's rehearsals".^[37]

Pepa Blanes [es] of Cadena SER described the film as a "subtle drama where the emotional intensity is always elegant, austere yet unsettling".^[38]

Wendy Ide of ScreenDaily described the film as "fierce, unflinching and insightful on the power dynamics of a film set", declaring Bardem's performance "blistering", ranking among his very best.^[39]

Lolita Mang of Vogue considered how the film gains momentum as it progresses to be its great strength, "with shame, hypocrisy and regret forming a potent cocktail".^[40]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the "disquieting" film about emotional abuse 4 out of 5 stars, writing that "Bardem gives his scariest performance since No Country for Old Men".^[41]

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "even if its elements don't always gel, The Beloved offers another prime showcase for Sorogoyen's art of unease, as well as for Bardem’s talent".^[42]

Fabien Lemercier of Cineuropa declared the film "a poignant and deeply human, spellbinding work, set in a bold and sophisticated visual style" "and masterful direction".^[43]

Owen Gleiberman of Variety billed the film as a "meaty and enjoyable entry" in the genre of movies about the making of a movie.^[44]

Damon Wise of Deadline considered The Beloved as certainly one of the best films about filmmaking since Day for Night, and perhaps the scariest since Peeping Tom.^[7]

On a surface level, Chase Hutchinson of TheWrap found the film as a potential chaotic evil twin of Sentimental Value, resulting into something "as consistently well-acted" as the former, "even if it doesn't quite reach the same heights".^[45]

Sophie Joubert of L'Humanité declared The Beloved the most thrilling film [so far] in the [Cannes main] competition, powered by "its bold stylistic approach, the breathtaking performances of its actors and the power of the themes it tackles".^[46]

Ricardo Rosado of Fotogramas rated the film 5 out of 5 stars, citing Bardem, Luengo, and Sorogoyen's ability to imbue every element of the work with narrative meaning as the best things about the film.^[47]

Elsa Fernández-Santos of El País singled out the performances delivered by Bardem and Luengo as the best things about the film, otherwise featuring a memorable opening scene, but noted the presence of several "gratuitous formal choices, such as alterations to the format and colour scheme".^[48]

David Fear of Rolling Stone deemed Bardem's performance to the best thing he "has ever done that hasn't involved a bad haircut and a coin toss".^[49]