‘La Bola Negra’ Finds Beauty in the Rubble of Spain’s Tragic History | Review

*La Bola Negra* uses three queer love stories set across Spain’s history to explore how conflict and repression shaped lives and family memories. Its reviewer finds the film moving in its celebration of people whose experiences were hidden, and of art’s power to preserve them.

The stories take place in 1932, during the Civil War in 1939, and in 2017, and are linked by Federico García Lorca’s unfinished play of the same name. Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo’s film was Spain’s submission for Best International Feature Film at the 2027 Academy Awards and won Best Director at Cannes, where it was also nominated for the Palme d’Or. The review praises its performances and emotional force, while noting that its complex structure sometimes slips into melodrama and excess.