Directors Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
Starring Guitarricadelafuente, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Javier Butler
Rated MA
Score 5/6

Spanning 1932, 1937, and 2017, three men confront the ghosts of a Spain torn between desire and repression. Carlos fights for acceptance, Sebastián falls in love across the battle lines of the Civil War, and Alberto unearths a family secret buried for decades. Bound by forbidden passions, violence, and inherited wounds, their intertwined destinies expose a legacy of intolerance that refuses to die, echoing the tragic world of Federico García Lorca.

In September 2026, the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain announced La Bola Negra AA as Spain’s official submission for the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category of the 99th Academy Awards in 2027. For those interested, La Bola Negra premiered at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. It should also be noted that La Bola Negra was inspired by the unfinished work of the same name by Federico García Lorca. Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo delivered a visually stunning movie. If anybody knows of any other good movies directed by Ambrossi and Calvo, please tell me about them. Apparently Guitarricadelafuente, made his acting debut. I was also a little surprised to see Glenn Close and Penélope Cruz pop up in this, it’s been more then a few years since I’ve last watched one of her movies. I loved the scenes she had with Guitarricadelafuente as Sebastián.




I’ll admit that perhaps some of the film’s symbolism and metaphors might have been lost on me but I suspect that I might not have been the film’s target demographic. My biggest problem with La Bola Negra (and it’s a minor problem) I got annoyed several times when the filmmakers cut from one storyline to another storyline at moments I was emotionally invested in. I enjoyed Lola Dueñas’ performance as Teresa. I loved the 1932 storyline. Hugo Welzel as Enrique had a brilliant speech about love and life, the seguiriya dance scene was memorable and the end of the storyline was one of the scenes that had me tearing up, though it did have a slightly surreal quality.