Los Javis' 'La Bola Negra' Sets Netflix's Longest Theatrical Run

Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi's "La Bola Negra" opens in select Los Angeles and New York theaters on October 16, marking Netflix's longest theatrical window to date. The film streams on Netflix from December 2.

The queer historical drama arrives as an Oscar frontrunner after winning first prize in the TIFF People's Choice Award, an Oscar-precursor category with a strong track record. Known as Los Javis, Calvo and Ambrossi — who are also exes — shared the Best Director prize at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival with Pawel Pawlikowski for "Fatherland."

The film resurrects an unfinished text by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca. Lorca, a gay writer who rose to fame in the 1920s as a member of the Spanish literary movement Generation of '27, was murdered in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War by followers of Francisco Franco. His body remains undiscovered to this day.

"La Bola Negra" weaves together three interconnected stories of gay men's lives across a century of Spanish history, traversing multiple 20th- and 21st-century timelines.

A 1932 storyline draws on Lorca's original play of the same name. It follows Carlos (Milo Quife), a young man who applies for membership to his father's casino and faces accusations of homosexuality.

A 1937 storyline draws on material from "La piedra oscura," a play by Alberto Conejero, who co-wrote the screenplay with Los Javis. It centers on Sebastián (Guitarricadelafuente), a musician-turned-Nationalist soldier who develops a relationship with prisoner-of-war Rafael Rodríguez Rapún (Miguel Bernardeau) — Lorca's real-life lover.

The final storyline, set in 2017, follows Alberto (Carlos González), a history graduate student researching queer music of the 1920s whose long-lost maternal grandfather unexpectedly dies.

The cast includes Pedro Almodóvar muse Lola Dueñas, a scene-stealing Penélope Cruz, Glenn Close — speaking Spanish — plus Julio Torres and Yenesi. Raül Refree composed the score, and Guitarricadelafuente wrote and performs the original song "La Nieve."

The official trailer is available now. The theatrical release expands to additional markets after the October 16 launch in Los Angeles and New York, before the December 2 Netflix debut.