‘La Bola Negra’ review: this dazzling queer melodrama is coming for all the Oscars

Lauded in their homeland, Spanish directing duo Los Javis (aka Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi) also have a burgeoning international reputation. Glenn Close was apparently such a fan of their 2023 series La Mesías, a brilliantly bizarre thriller about a girl-group trapped inside a cult, that she snapped up a role in their equally remarkable new film. La bola negra has already dazzled at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where Los Javis won the Best Director award jointly with Polish auteur Paweł Pawlikowski. Now it looks like a shoo-in for a slew of Oscar nominations including the biggest one of all: Best Picture. READ MORE: The best films of 2026… so far! There’s certainly no faulting Los Javis’ ambition. La Bola Negra (which translates to The Black Ball in English) is an interlinked triptych that takes place in 1932, 1937 and 2017; it unfolds partly against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, which allows Penélope Cruz to make a wonderful extended cameo as a bawdy forces’ sweetheart. But for the most part, the directors are far more interested in a different battle – namely, the ongoing struggle for queer acceptance and dignity. They set out their stall early on with a grandi...