The Beloved: Cannes Premiere of a Father-Daughter Film-Within-a-Film

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s *El Ser Querido* (English title *The Beloved*) premiered at Cannes 2026. Oscar-winner Javier Bardem plays director Esteban Martínez, who returns to Spain to shoot a 1930s Western Sahara period piece, *Desierto*, casting his estranged daughter Emilia Vera (Victoria Luengo) and confronting past abandonment and alcoholism.

Hollywood Reporter

The Movistar Plus+ film is co-produced by Caballo Films, El Ser Querido AIE, and France’s Le Pacte, with ICAA support and Creative Europe funding. Sorogoyen co-wrote with Isabel Peña. The cast features Bardem, Luengo, Marina Foïs, and Melina Matthews. Álex de Pablo’s cinematography shifts aspect ratio, film stock, and color to echo the volatile director’s temperament.

Deadline Hollywood

Bardem was offered the role at Cannes 2022’s *The Beasts*. Principal photography finished early 2026 on the Canary Islands. The film was selected for competition and premiered in May 2026, receiving a seven-minute ovation.

Deadline Hollywood

Runtime 2 h 15 min. Bardem is a two-time Oscar winner; Sorogoyen’s *The Beasts* won nine Goyas. U.S. rights are under negotiation.

Deadline Hollywood

The film examines toxic masculinity, intergenerational trauma, and authority. Bardem linked the narrative to Spain’s gender-based violence and to leaders like Trump, Putin, and Netanyahu. Critics note a meta-commentary on nepotism and the “nepo-baby” debate surrounding Luengo’s casting.

Deadline Hollywood

Sorogoyen said the script began with only a few lines and a thematic universe before casting Bardem and Luengo. At Cannes, Bardem called the film an examination of normalized toxic masculinity. Organizers highlighted the seven-minute ovation as evidence of strong audience response.

Vanity Fair

IndieWire and The Hollywood Reporter praised Bardem but found the format shifts distracting. Micropsiacine said on-set drama overshadows *Desierto*, leaving the central conflict under-explored. Some reviewers called the work one of the best films about filmmaking.

IndieWire

Some view the stylistic changes as reflections of the director’s volatility; others see them as flaws that blur narrative clarity, creating a split in opinion.

‘The Beloved’ Cannes Review: Javier Bardem Anchors a Volatile Father-Daughter Drama

• “I’m 57 years old, coming from a very machista country called Spain, where there is an average of two women killed monthly by their ex-husbands or ex-boyfriends, which is horrible. Just that amount of women being murdered, it’s unbelievable,” — Javier Bardem, Actor

Deadline Hollywood

• “We explained to him that we only had a few lines written, a theme that interested us and a specific universe,” — Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Director

Vanity Fair

• “In El ser querido, an acclaimed film director and his daughter, an unsuccessful actress, shoot a film together after years of estrangement and a difficult past that none of them want to talk about.” — Official Synopsis, Cannes

Deadline Hollywood

• “Drinking is f*cking shit,” — Esteban Martínez (character)

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• “the cinema is truth 24 times a second.” — Godard (quoted in review)

Hollywood Reporter

The film will open in Spanish cinemas via A Contracorriente Films, then stream on Movistar Plus+. International sales are managed by Goodfellas; U.S. distribution talks continue.

Deadline Hollywood