Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s “The Beloved” (“El ser querido”), which world premiered in Cannes competition on May 16, delves into the intricate and often painful dynamics between a renowned film director and his estranged daughter. The film centers on Esteban Martínez (Javier Bardem), a celebrated director returning to his native Spain to shoot a movie in the desert. He casts his daughter, Emilia (Victoria Luengo), an actress he hasn't seen in 13 years, claiming she is the best for the role, though his true intention is to mend their fractured relationship.

The emotional core of "The Beloved" is established in its opening 20-minute scene, shot on the first day of filming, where Esteban and Emilia meet for lunch in Madrid. Sorogoyen intentionally kept Bardem and Luengo from meeting or rehearsing beforehand to capture raw, authentic tension, resulting in what he calls "20 minutes of scenes that, in my opinion, are pure gold." Esteban, a charismatic and manipulative celebrity director, uses charm and feints, while Emilia, in her mid-thirties, displays a fascinating blend of sunny enthusiasm and quick downturns, embodying a pensive anxiety. Her tentativeness and the 13-year separation are immediate red flags, hinting at deeper unresolved conflicts.

The central conflict emerges from their differing recollections of the past. Esteban fondly remembers taking Emilia to movies when she was 12 or 13, but Emilia counters with a vivid memory of seeing “Kill Bill: Volume 2” where her father was drunk, high, and got into a fistfight. This stark contrast—her long-simmering pain against his steadfast denial—forms the foundation of the film’s narrative, serving as a conduit for a broader meditation on the narcissism of male anger.

“The Beloved” is notably a "movie about the making of a movie," aligning with genre classics like “Day for Night.” It updates this tradition to the contemporary era, where directors find it increasingly difficult to bully cast and crew, a characteristic Esteban often displays. The film within the film, titled “Desert,” is a high-minded period piece set in the Western Sahara, chronicling the Sahrawi uprising against Spanish colonialism. It is shot on the arid Canary Island of Fuerteventura, standing in for 1932 Western Sahara.

Sorogoyen employs an experimental and often disorienting filmmaking style to immerse the audience in Emilia’s perspective. He blends various film formats and styles—digital, 35mm, 16mm, 8mm, widescreen, box formats, and shifts between color and black and white. These stylistic choices reflect different viewpoints, characters' emotions, and moments of introspection, particularly the black-and-white sequences used for Esteban and Emilia’s memories. Sorogoyen reflects that if this had been his first film, he wouldn’t have taken such risks, crediting the full trust of producers Movistar Plus+ and Le Pacte.

Javier Bardem delivers a masterful performance as Esteban, portraying him as a force of nature—magnetic, handsome, and initially appearing as classic "aggro Javier glory." The subtle power of his acting slowly reveals Esteban’s mastery of mind games and his underlying struggle to keep a lid on buried regret, which he denies for most of the film. Victoria Luengo’s portrayal of Emilia is equally compelling, her performance growing more touching as her fury and pain surface.

The film also provides glimpses into Esteban’s past, revealing that Emilia’s mother was actress Charo Vera (Núria Prims), who starred in his acclaimed first film, “Sorocco,” known for an existential three-way bedroom scene. After “Sorocco’s” success, Esteban abandoned his family for a new, younger one. A pivotal scene showcasing Esteban’s directorial bullying involves an outdoor country lunch-table setting that descends into a chain of mishaps. Infuriated by the actors' giggle fits and their inability to consume fish stew with adequate "gusto" at 9:00 a.m., Esteban turns his direction into a sadistic battle of wills, illustrating the archaic power dynamics he attempts to wield. This scene analogously suggests that abandoning one's family and rationalizing it is something one "can't quite get away with anymore."

Sorogoyen and his career-long writing partner Isabel Peña consistently explore themes related to men’s conflicts, ambitions, violence, and relationships. While “The Beloved” touches on toxic patriarchy, Sorogoyen emphasizes that the film’s core is about storytelling itself—how individuals and society use stories to relate to themselves and others. This focus on the multifaceted nature of narrative is reflected in his decision to shoot the film in "all the different ways possible," making "The Beloved" his freest and most experimental work to date.