“The Beloved” (“El ser querido”)
(Spain/France)
Screened at the 62nd Chicago International Film Festival (3+/5)
US Premiere
Letterboxd (3+/5), Imdb.com (7/10), TMDB.com (7/10), Imdb.com critics review
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Making amends for past transgressions is an obviously noble pursuit, even if the forgiveness one might seek isn’t necessarily guaranteed or accepted to the degree expected. So it is for acclaimed film director Esteban Martínez (Javier Bardem), a renowned two-time Oscar winner who seeks to reconcile with his estranged daughter, Emilia (Victoria Luengo), a twenty-something aspiring actress whom he hasn’t seen in 13 years. He looks to build bridges with her personally, making up for all the pain he caused her in her youth when he let his problem drinking and perfectionist and hothead tendencies get the better of him. At the same time, Esteban also wants to help bolster her career by offering her a plum role in “Desert,” his newest production, a period piece historical drama set in the Spanish colony of Western Sahara in 1932. Emilia is stunned by his generosity on both fronts, but, given her history with him, can she truly trust his intentions? This becomes particularly relevant when, during filming, she witnesses echoes of his past behavior, causing old wounds to resurface. This is further complicated when she begins to see that she may be more like the old man than she’d like to admit. And, if all that weren’t enough, other cast and crew members wonder whether Emilia’s up to the rigors of the part, that she might be the beneficiary of nepotism and a father who’s overcompensating in trying to overcome his guilt. Those conditions make for quite a set of dynamics in the narrative, much of which was supposedly improvised, a quality that curiously comes across as both brilliantly executed and painfully apparent at different times. Moreover, the overall story here bears a remarkable similarity to that of the Academy Award-winning “Sentimental Value” (“Affeksjonsverdi”) (2025), calling matters of originality into question. The result is a production that, strangely and simultaneously, can feel both quite engaging and tediously drawn out. Several sequences, such as the film’s overlong opening segment, for example, drag on mercilessly, loaded with throw-away dialogue that tries viewer patience. At the same time, others, like the protracted filming of a problem-ridden mealtime sequence from Esteban’s new production, are both utterly riveting and surprisingly humorous. How these vastly divergent qualities emerge (and are left unreconciled) in the same film is somewhat puzzling, suggesting editing issues and clarity of intentions on the part of writer-director Rodrigo Sorogoyen. This is not to suggest that “The Beloved” is a bad picture (as evidenced in the performances of both Bardem and Luengo), but it’s clearly one that needs work elsewhere, not unlike the protagonist’s efforts to make up for his checkered past. That kind of frustration and contradiction might well come with the territory when one seeks redemption, but it doesn’t necessarily make for the best filmmaking.