La Bola Negra — Review

Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi's La Bola Negra is one of the best films of 2026, and it is easy to see why the directing duo—collectively known as Los Javis—won the Best Director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. An expansive story spanning decades of Spanish history, the film interweaves the stories of three gay men across three time periods: 1932, 1937, and 2017. The film also showcases immense creativity from a screenwriting standpoint. The film was partially inspired by Federico García Lorca’s unfinished play La Bola Negra, with Lorca himself also appearing as a character, played by Alberto Cortés. The screenplay, co-written by Los Javis and Alberto Conejero, also draws inspiration from Conejero’s play La Piedra Oscura. The result is a remarkably ambitious work that transforms its sprawling historical narrative into a moving meditation on queer identity, secrecy, love, and the possibility of living without shame.