The Beloved

The acclaimed film director Esteban Martínez (Javier Bardem) is a legend, both for his impressive body of work and for his notorious past full of alcohol, violence, and excess. When he returns to Spain after an absence of thirteen years for the filming of his new movie, he unexpectedly offers the lead role to his estranged daughter Emilia, an actress whose career is struggling to get off the ground. What initially seems like a chance at reconciliation quickly turns into an emotional minefield. As father and daughter stand on the film set together, the boundaries between fiction and reality blur, and old wounds inevitably rise to the surface. The Beloved is an intense father-daughter drama from Oscar-nominated director Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Las Bestias, Madre) that had its world premiere in the competition of the Cannes Film Festival. Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Skyfall) delivers one of the most layered roles of his career, with Victoria Luengo (The Room Next Door, Amarga Navidad) as a convincing co-star. With The Beloved, Sorogoyen tells a layered and poignant story about the dynamics between parents and children, artistry, and the thin line between love and manipulation.