Level 1 — Absolute Beginner

Javier Bardem is a famous actor from Spain. He has been in many big movies.

On Saturday, May 16, 2026, his new film was shown at a big festival in Cannes, France.

The film is called 'The Beloved'. Bardem plays a film director. The director's daughter in the film is played by Victoria Luengo.

At the end of the film, the people in the cinema stood up and clapped for seven long minutes. Many people now think Bardem might win a prize at the festival.

actor

a person who plays a part in a film, a play or a TV show

Spain

a country in southern Europe

famous

very well known by many people

film

a moving story shown in a cinema or on TV; a movie

festival

a special event where people meet to watch films or enjoy music

director

the person in charge of making a film

daughter

a person's female child

prize

something given to a person who wins

Level 2 — Elementary

On Saturday, May 16, 2026, the Spanish film 'The Beloved' had its first showing at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in the south of France. The Spanish title of the film is 'El Ser Querido'. It is directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen and stars Javier Bardem.

In the film, Bardem plays Esteban Martinez, a world-famous director who comes back to Spain to shoot a film in the desert. He gives one of the main parts to his daughter Emilia, played by Victoria Luengo. Father and daughter have not spoken for many years.

The story shows what happens when the work on set goes wrong. Esteban is shouty and selfish. Emilia wants to be respected as an actress, not just as the director's daughter. The film looks closely at how love and anger can live side by side in a family.

After the screening in the Grand Theatre Lumiere, the audience clapped for seven minutes while Bardem hugged his co-stars. Critics in Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline gave the film strong reviews. Many already see Bardem as a leading name for the festival's Best Actor prize, which will be announced on May 23.

festival

an important event where films are shown and prizes are given

premiere

the first public showing of a film, play or song

main role

one of the largest parts in a film or play

screening

a single public showing of a film

audience

the group of people watching a film or other performance

critic

a person whose job is to give an opinion about books, films or art

Best Actor

a prize given for the best male performance in a film

estranged

no longer close to a member of one's family because of an argument

Level 3 — Intermediate

Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen's 'The Beloved' (in Spanish, 'El Ser Querido') premiered in the main competition of the 79th Cannes Film Festival on the evening of Saturday, May 16, 2026, in the Grand Theatre Lumiere. The film, the director's first to feature in Competition rather than in a sidebar, drew a sustained seven-minute standing ovation from a black-tie audience that included festival president Iris Knobloch and jury president Park Chan-wook.

The picture stars Javier Bardem as Esteban Martinez, an internationally acclaimed director famous for his commercial successes and his volatile on-set temper. After two decades of estrangement, Esteban returns to Spain to shoot a Western-tinged desert epic and casts his daughter Emilia, played by the Goya-nominated Victoria Luengo, in one of the leading roles. What begins as a professional reunion quickly disintegrates into a power struggle in which Esteban's authoritarian directing style collides with Emilia's adult sense of self.

Sorogoyen, who built his reputation on the political thriller 'The Realm' (2018) and the rural drama 'The Beasts' (2022), shifts here to a film about filmmaking — a Spanish answer, several critics have suggested, to Truffaut's 'Day for Night'. The reviews in Variety, Indiewire, Hollywood Reporter and Deadline have ranged from very good to outstanding, with particular praise for Bardem's portrayal of a man whose creative gift coexists with deep emotional cruelty.

The Palme d'Or will be awarded on May 23. Bookmakers had already moved Bardem to second favourite for Best Actor by the time the credits rolled, behind Adam Driver in James Gray's 'Paper Tiger'. International distributors are also said to be circling: trade publications report that Sony Pictures Classics and A24 are competing for U.S. rights, with a deal expected before the closing weekend.

main competition

the central film selection at a festival, the films of which compete for the top prize

sidebar

a parallel festival section outside the main competition, such as Un Certain Regard at Cannes

standing ovation

a long round of applause during which an audience stands up to show approval

volatile

liable to change suddenly, especially to become angry

estrangement

the condition of being no longer in contact with someone one was close to

power struggle

a contest in which two or more people try to gain control of a relationship or situation

authoritarian

expecting or demanding obedience without question

distributor

a company that buys the rights to release a film in cinemas or on streaming services

Level 4 — Advanced

Rodrigo Sorogoyen's 'The Beloved' (Spanish title 'El Ser Querido') had its world premiere in the main competition of the 79th Cannes Film Festival on the evening of Saturday, May 16, 2026, in the Grand Theatre Lumiere — the director's first appearance in the official competition after two films at Un Certain Regard and one outside the festival altogether. The black-tie premiere ended with a sustained seven-minute standing ovation, audibly louder for the cast than for the director, with festival president Iris Knobloch, jury president Park Chan-wook and Sandra Hueller among those seen on their feet.

Bardem plays Esteban Martinez, a commercially successful but emotionally combustible director who, after two decades of estrangement, returns to Spain to shoot a Western-inflected desert epic and casts his daughter Emilia — Victoria Luengo, in a performance several reviewers have already flagged as breakout-grade — in one of the leading roles. The narrative loosely mirrors Truffaut's 'Day for Night' in form, threading a making-of structure through a father-daughter melodrama in which a manipulative authorial sensibility tries, and fails, to colonise the inner life of an adult collaborator who happens also to be a relative.

Critically the reception has been broadly enthusiastic. Variety has called the picture 'one of the best films about filmmaking since Truffaut's Day for Night and the scariest since Peeping Tom,' while Hollywood Reporter, Indiewire, Screen Daily and Deadline have flagged Bardem's portrait — a man whose creative authority barely contains a startling capacity for psychological cruelty — as the strongest performance of his career since 'Biutiful'. Sorogoyen's regular collaborator Isabel Pena receives a co-writing credit; Alex de Pablo's anamorphic cinematography of the Tabernas Desert has been singled out as the festival's most striking visual achievement to date.

Industrial fallout has been swift. Within two hours of the credits, Sony Pictures Classics, A24 and Mubi were reported to be in three-way bidding for U.S. distribution rights, with internal expectations running to mid-eight figures plus a substantial P&A commitment ahead of an autumn awards-season release. Bookmakers updated the Palme d'Or market overnight to place 'The Beloved' joint third behind Pawel Pawlikowski's 'Fatherland' and James Gray's 'Paper Tiger', and lifted Bardem to second favourite for Best Actor behind Adam Driver. The competition awards will be announced at the closing ceremony on Saturday, May 23.

world premiere

the very first public screening of a film anywhere in the world

Western-inflected

carrying elements or moods drawn from the genre of the American Western

epic

a long film, often historical, with grand themes and a large physical scale

making-of structure

a film whose plot follows the process of making another film inside it

anamorphic cinematography