--- title: "La bola negra: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/la-bola-negra/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/la-bola-negra" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # La bola negra (2026): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 12 reviews: 9 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics are won over: nine of twelve reviews are positive and none negative. The praise settles on the same things: the confidence with which the directors braid three queer storylines across 1932, 1937 and 2017, the operatic, maximalist style that treats melodrama as a virtue, and the sheer handsomeness of the images. Several single out the editing and the score, and the performances are widely admired, Penélope Cruz’s among them. Its reworking of Lorca’s unfinished play as a way of honouring Spain’s persecuted queer histories is the note struck most often. The reservations gather around scale. The doubters find it sprawling and undisciplined, with ponderous stretches, clunky dialogue and characters who stay flat. Variety is the coolest, calling it distended and overblown, while Screen Daily and Vulture sit in the mixed middle for similar reasons. Even admirers note that explaining how the three strands connect costs the film some mystery. The spread is wide, but nobody dislikes it. ## IndieWire — Sophie Monks Kaufman Rating A. 21 May 2026. Festival review. The critic calls the film a heartbreaking, dazzling work whose interwoven stories form a coherent tribute to queer storytellers. She particularly praises its carefully structured timelines and the poetic emotional force they create together. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/the-black-ball-review-los-javis-1235195462/) ## The AV Club — B. Panther Rating A-. 22 September 2026. The critic praises the time-hopping queer epic for blending fantasy and history into a rousing celebration of queerness across three eras. They single out the fluid visual transitions and maximalist style that imagines new futures rooted in collective emancipation, while noting a minor complaint about overly sanitized period visuals. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/la-bola-negra-review-los-javis-queer-drama-netflix) ## Little White Lies — Rafa Sales Ross Fi1m's normalised score 87/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2026. Festival review. The review lauds the directors’ head-spinning, era-spanning ode to political liberty and memory, noting how the ambitious multi-timeline structure effectively condemns historical repression while affirming hope and desire in the present. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/cannes-film-festival/the-black-ball-first-look-review) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 86/100 (inferred from the text). 1 June 2026. Festival review. The critic praises the film's operatic and extravagant style in reimagining Lorca’s unfinished play across three timelines, highlighting its emotional excess, baroque imagery, and melodrama as a powerful way to honor Spain’s queer histories and victims of persecution. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/black-ball-operatic-journey-through-spains-queer-histories) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Richard Lawson Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2026. Festival review. The critic hails the film as a major Cannes standout and a dazzling mix of contemporary pop sensibility and classical filmmaking. They single out the thrilling technical bravado, with nearly every shot a composed wonder, and the assured handling of the triptych structure spanning gay history. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-black-ball-review-bola-negra-los-javis-glenn-close-1236603356/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Rating 4/5. 21 May 2026. Festival review. The critic finds the narrative triptych superlatively acted and beautifully shot, handsomely produced and confidently constructed with an elegant cameo for Lorca. A small regret is expressed that some mystery and poetry is lost once the connections between the three strands are explained. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/may/21/the-black-ball-review-the-complicated-secrets-of-gay-sexuality-in-spain-are-brilliantly-told) ## Vulture — Alison Willmore Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2026. Festival review. Willmore finds the film compelling and ambitious, though its achievements sometimes seem outstripped by its scope. She praises its moments of grandeur, especially when the directors reach for the transcendent, while noting clunky dialogue and ponderous stretches. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/the-black-ball-review-sometimes-sublime-sometimes-clumsy.html) ## Screen Daily — Lee Marshall Fi1m's normalised score 63/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2026. Festival review. The critic admires the passion and timely reclamation of repressed queer culture in the triple-timeline story but finds it a sprawling, undisciplined melodrama that lacks narrative elegance despite strong performances like Penélope Cruz’s. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/la-bola-negra-review-penelope-cruz-and-guitarricadelafuente-star-in-sprawling-exploration-of-spains-queer-culture/5217089.article) ## Variety — Guy Lodge Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2026. Festival review. The critic finds the film ambitious but distended and turgidly overblown at times, with two-dimensional characters, though it has some confidently muscular filmmaking and poignant maximalism honoring queer ancestors. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/the-black-ball-review-1236755685/) ## The Playlist — Gregory Ellwood Rating A-. 21 May 2026. Festival review. The critic finds the ambitious interweaving of three queer storylines across 1932, 1937, and 2017 a miracle of narrative control that lands a powerful emotional gut punch. They single out the vast canvas, strong performances, gorgeous score, and masterful climax for praise while noting some early jarring tonal shifts. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/la-bola-negra-the-black-ball-review-three-generations-of-queer-men-cross-paths-in-javier-ambrossi-and-javier-calvos-epic-and-heartbreaking-melodrama-cannes-20260521/) ## Deadline — Damon Wise Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2026. Festival review. The critic praises the film as an unashamedly romantic decades-spanning drama with extraordinary craft in seamlessly weaving three timelines. They single out its confident handling of gay love stories and melodrama in the vein of Almodóvar. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2026/05/la-bola-negra-review-javier-calvo-and-javier-ambrossi-penelope-cruz-1236918715/) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2026. Festival review. The critic finds the film a rousing, ambitious celebration of queer love and the ties between past and present. They praise its inventive editing and emotionally resonant performances, while noting that the connections between stories sometimes slow the narrative and leave one thread less developed. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/la-bola-negra-review-cannes/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/la-bola-negra.md