The Reel Review
Three timelines spanning almost 100 years tell the story of how writing and personal tenacity can excavate long-buried stories from the past. Guitarricadelafuente, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos Gonzales, Penelope Cruz and Glenn Close star in this LGBTQ+ romantic drama set largely during the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s and in modern day Spain.
With sweeping, visually poetic moments, La Bola Negra strives to create an epic cinematic masterpiece, and for the most part it succeeds, thanks to the stirring cinematography and strong performances from its two main stars. Cruz gives additional color as a sexually liberated, civil war-era entertainer in 1930s fascist Spain, as does Close as a modern-day historian. Co-writer/directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi cleverly incorporate Alberto Conejero’s play La piedra oscura, itself a tribute to Spanish avant-garde playwright Federico Garcia Lorca’s unfinished work, into their film.
The modern-day element, while necessary to forward the story and bring it to life, does feel a bit tacked on and is at times distracting from the more compelling civil war-era timelines. But the film’s message – about the necessity of sexual freedom and the right to love, especially in times of tragic discrimination and repression, is timeless.
REEL FACTS
• La Bola Negra is Spain’s entry for Best International Film at the 2027 Oscars.
• Los Javis, the nickname for co-directors and former boyfriends Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, won the Best Director award at both Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival. The duo, who were together for 13 years, split during the filming of La Bola Negra.
• La Bola Negra will begin streaming on Netflix on December 2, 2026.
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