La bola negra (2026)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.