The Beloved

Javier Bardem gives a quiet but complex performance as the fictional, acclaimed mercurial Spanish film director Esteban Martínez, who after years spent winning Oscars and awards overseas, returns to his homeland to film a colonial-era period drama set in Western Sahara. Opening with a slow-burning but emotionally intense 20-minute meeting between Esteban and his estranged daughter Emilia (Victoria Luengo), director Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s quietly bubbling drama finds its meaning in looks, pauses and Hitchcockian power games. Though he hasn’t seen her in over a decade, Esteban hopes that his genuine offer to his now adult, actress daughter will help them to reconnect and rebuild their relationship. When Emilia, not without reservations, agrees to her father’s request – they soon find themselves in the desert, cautiously watching, learning about and frustrating each other as they head towards an inevitable confrontation that will unleash years of pain and trauma on everyone around them.