A film by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
La bola negra
Spain · 2026 · 155 min · Drama
Three men separated by almost a century share the same desire, the same wound and an inheritance that will end up binding them together.
Synopsis
Three lives, one thread
Between 1932 and 2017, La bola negra weaves together the lives of three men separated by almost a century and bound by something time has not managed to erase: desire, the fear of being singled out, and whatever each generation hands down, sometimes unknowingly, to the next.
The film grows out of a handful of pages, all that survives of La bola negra, the play Federico García Lorca left unfinished when he was murdered in 1936. Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi fill that silence together with playwright Alberto Conejero, author of La piedra oscura, and deliver their most ambitious work to date: a sweeping portrait of memory, visibility and the price of loving freely.
A door that stays shut. Carlos hopes to join a casino frequented by Granada's high society, but a single rumor about his private life is enough for the secret ballot to shut him out.
This story lies at the heart of the play Lorca never finished, and it marks Milo Quifes's screen debut.
Love in a time of war. Sebastián, a young trumpet player from a small village, survives a bombing raid and ends up in the uniform of Franco's Nationalist army. At a military hospital in Cantabria he is ordered to guard a wounded Republican prisoner, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, who had been Lorca's secretary and partner in the poet's final years.
The role marks Guitarricadelafuente's acting debut, opposite Miguel Bernardeau, who plays a real-life figure.
What the past leaves in writing. Alberto, a writer and historian, has long been estranged from his mother (Lola Dueñas). The will of a grandfather he never knew places in his hands a document that could rewrite his own story.
It is the present-day story that gives meaning to everything before it, turning the film into a reflection on memory as a form of justice.
4pages
That is all that survives of La bola negra, the play Lorca left unfinished in 1936
The origin
To be blackballed
For generations, casinos and social clubs admitted new members by secret ballot: each member dropped a white ball into the urn to accept a candidate or a black one to reject them. The ritual lives on in the Spanish expression «echar bola negra», just as it does in the English “to blackball”: to shut someone out. Lorca made it the starting point of a play about a man excluded for being gay.
- 1936Lorca writes the first scenes of La bola negra, but his murder that August leaves the play as no more than a few pages.
- 2015Alberto Conejero premieres La piedra oscura, about the last days of Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, which would become the film's second source.
- 2025Movistar Plus+ announces the project, which it will produce with Suma Content Films.
- 2026The film has its world premiere on May 21 in the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival.
The true story
Rafael and Federico
Rafael Rodríguez Rapún was born in Madrid to a working-class family, studied mining engineering and played for Atlético de Madrid. In 1933 he joined La Barraca as an actor, the university theater company with which Federico García Lorca took the plays of Lope de Vega and Calderón to towns and villages across Spain. The poet eventually made him the company's secretary.
The two began a relationship that would last until both of their deaths. Rapún has been named as the inspiration for the Sonetos del amor oscuro (Sonnets of Dark Love), although scholars disagree.
When he learned that Lorca had been murdered in Granada in August 1936, he enlisted in the Republican army. He died on the Cantabrian front in August 1937 from wounds sustained in a bombing, a year after Federico's death. La bola negra imagines those final days through Sebastián, the soldier assigned to guard him.
- 1912Born in Madrid
- 1933Joins La Barraca
- 1936Lorca is murdered in Granada
- 1937Dies on the Cantabrian front
Cast
A cast between two worlds
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The cast also includes Natalia de Molina, Julio Torres, Albert Pla, Lorenzo Zurzolo, Yenesi Suárez, Mona Martínez, Hugo Welzel, María Morales and Nuria Mencía, among others.
20minutes
of standing ovation after its world premiere, one of the longest in Cannes Film Festival memory
Awards
From Cannes to the Oscars
Cannes Film Festival · Best Director
The jury honored Calvo and Ambrossi ex aequo with Paweł Pawlikowski, two days after the official screening ended in an ovation of nearly twenty minutes.
Sydney Film Festival · Audience Award
It was the only award the film was eligible for at the Australian festival, and the first one audiences gave it.
TIFF Toronto · People's Choice Award
The Canadian festival's most influential prize and one of the most reliable bellwethers of awards season.
San Sebastián · Audience Award
It won in the Perlak section with a score of 9.40, the highest ever achieved by a Spanish film in the history of the award.
2027 Oscars · Best International Feature
Spain's Film Academy chose it to represent the country in the Best International Feature category, with Netflix backing its US campaign.
Worldwide box office
A box-office phenomenon
Updated automatically · TMDB
- 5M+admissions in Spanish theaters
- No. 1The highest-grossing Spanish film of 2026
- Top 10Among the biggest openings in the history of Spanish cinema
- RecordThe best per-screen average ever for a Spanish film in the United States
Where to watch
When and where to watch
- May 21, 2026World premiere in Cannes
Screened in the Official Competition.
- Sep 19, 2026San Sebastián Film Festival
Spanish premiere in the Perlak section.
- Sep 25, 2026Theaters in Spain
Released by Elastica and still in theaters.
- Oct 16, 2026Theaters in the US and Canada
Released by Netflix, with a record 47-day exclusive theatrical window.
- Dec 2, 2026Netflix in the US and Canada
Available only to subscribers in those two countries.
- Dec 16, 2026Theaters in France
Released by Le Pacte, one of the film's co-producers.
- Date TBAMovistar Plus+ in Spain
It will stream exclusively there after its theatrical run; it will not be on Netflix in Spain.
Available now
Data from JustWatch via TMDB, updated automatically.
Countdown
Coming to Netflix (US)
In Spain it is currently showing only in theaters. It will then stream exclusively on Movistar Plus+.
In the press
La bola negra in the headlines
From the Cannes ovation to Toronto and New York, the film's journey as told by the international press.
An essay on how the film looks back at Spain's darkest years
The New York Review of BooksNPR's review: a maximalist epic that doesn't always land
NPRStrong US opening as Netflix reports theatrical grosses for the first time
Screen DailyAP review: a gay drama with real historical sweep
AP · KQEDLos Javis to receive the Visionary Director Award at Miami's GEMS festival
Netflix JunkieReview: an epic that reads like a long-lost novel
The Film StageOpening night film of NewFest, New York's LGBTQ+ film festival
NewFestLos Javis take on global cinema, with Oscar hopes for Netflix
La NaciónWins the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival
TheWrapThe TIFF audience award puts it on the road to the Oscars
AP · Local 10Toronto's audience award goes to Los Javis
Screen DailyHow Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close came to join the cast
TheWrapInside the award-winning queer epic ahead of its UK release
GaydioTelluride review: an ambitious epic with a beating heart
Awards RadarNetflix shares a gorgeous teaser for the Cannes favorite
The A.V. ClubA century of queer history takes center stage
QueertyNetflix moves up its US theatrical release by three weeks for the awards push
Screen DailyNetflix sets the US release date for the Cannes Best Director winner
Awards RadarLos Javis deliver an epic ode to gay history at Cannes
QueertyPenélope Cruz says the film's message mattered more than her screen time
Malay MailLos Javis on queer desire and repression in their Cannes competition title
Screen DailyRelease date, cast and what to know about the Cannes hit
Netflix TudumPenélope Cruz joins Los Javis' film, with Goodfellas handling sales
VarietyGallery
The film in pictures
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Credits
Behind the camera
- Directed by
- Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi
- Screenplay
- Javier Calvo, Javier Ambrossi and Alberto Conejero
- Based on
- La bola negra (Lorca, unfinished) and La piedra oscura (Conejero)
- Running time
- 155 min
- Country
- Spain, France
- Production
- Movistar Plus+ and Suma Content Films, with El Deseo and Le Pacte, in association with Atresmedia
- Distribution
- Elastica (Spain), Netflix (US and Canada), Goodfellas (international sales)
Trivia
For the curious
- Almost a decade later. It is the second feature by Los Javis, who had not made a film since La llamada (2017).
- A bidding war in Cannes. Netflix acquired the US rights for around five million dollars, according to the trade press.
- A record for the streamer. It spent 47 days exclusively in theaters before streaming, longer than Marriage Story (30) or The Irishman (27).
- An earlier release. It was scheduled for October 2 but reached theaters a week earlier.
- A historic first day. It drew 175,000 moviegoers on 414 screens on opening day.
- The Almodóvar touch. El Deseo, the production company of the Almodóvar brothers, is one of the co-producers.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is it based on a true story?
Partly. Rafael Rodríguez Rapún was real: he was Lorca's secretary and partner. Voting with white and black balls was also a real practice. Carlos, Sebastián and Alberto are fictional characters.
Who was Rafael Rodríguez Rapún?
He was the secretary of La Barraca, Federico García Lorca's university theater company, and the poet's partner in his final years. He joined the Republican army after Lorca's murder and died on the Cantabrian front in August 1937.
Who directed La bola negra?
Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as Los Javis, who also wrote the screenplay with playwright Alberto Conejero. It is their second feature after La llamada.
How long is it?
It runs 155 minutes, or two hours and thirty-five minutes.
Is it on Netflix in Spain?
No. In Spain the rights belong to Movistar Plus+, which will stream it exclusively after its theatrical run. Netflix only offers it in the United States and Canada, starting December 2, 2026.
Is it nominated for an Oscar?
It is Spain's submission for Best International Feature. To compete for the statuette it must first make the Academy's shortlist and then the final five nominees.
What is it rated?
It contains explicit scenes. It is rated R in the United States and MA15+ in Australia.
No more black balls
Now in theaters, and on Netflix in the US and Canada from December 2.