Sorogoyen Unveils Risk-Heavy Cannes Drama With Bardem

Rodrigo Sorogoyen heads to Cannes with a gamble: a drama that opens with a 20-minute reunion and leans hard into formal risk.

His new film, The Beloved (El ser querido), premieres in competition on May 16 and begins in a plush Madrid restaurant, where a world-famous film director, Esteban Martínez, played by Javier Bardem, meets his estranged daughter, played by Victoria Luengo. He offers her a role in his next film, even though reports indicate he does not know whether she can act. That setup gives Sorogoyen a combustible family clash from the first scene and frames the project as something more than a conventional industry drama.

“If this had been my first film, I wouldn’t have taken so many risks.”

That remark captures the film’s central appeal. Sorogoyen does not present The Beloved as a safe prestige play; he describes it as a full-on experiment. The opening scene alone signals his intent to test patience, tension and performance in real time rather than cut quickly to the next beat. Bardem’s presence raises the stakes further, giving the film a globally recognizable center while Sorogoyen pushes structure and tone in a more daring direction.

The story also points to a sharp emotional undercurrent beneath the formal ambition. A father who reaches out through casting, not reconciliation, suggests a relationship shaped by power, performance and old wounds. Sources suggest the film will mine that tension as both personal conflict and commentary on how artists control the people closest to them. In that light, the long opening scene looks less like a stunt and more like a declaration of method.

What happens next matters well beyond one Cannes slot. If The Beloved lands, it could strengthen Sorogoyen’s standing as a filmmaker willing to stretch his form without losing audience focus, and it could add another bold turn to Bardem’s career. Cannes will now test whether this experiment connects with viewers the way Sorogoyen intends — and whether risk, in a crowded festival field, still cuts through fastest.