Cannes 2026 – Day 10: the La Bola negra shock, Bardem vs Bolloré, the Dupieux disappointment…

Every day, the hot spot live from the 79th Cannes Film Festival.

Film of the day: The Black Bola by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo (in competition)

We were eagerly awaiting the third Spanish film presented this year in competition (after The loved one And Autofiction). Signed by Los Javis (Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo), the brilliant duo behind the series The mesias, The black bola hit Cannes right in the heart. Penélope Cruz (who makes a memorable cameo as a singer-prostitute) set the red carpet on fire. And twenty minutes of standing ovation greeted this historical and queer fresco recounting the destiny of three men over three eras. A reaction to the excess of this project digging up the corpses of the civil war, which saw the troops of the future dictator Franco overthrow the Republican camp. Iberian pendant of French cinema’s reflection on the Occupation, collaboration and resistance started in theaters by Rays and shadows and continued on the Croisette by Mill, The Battle of Gaulle And Our salvation.

From its opening sequence, The black bola displays its formal ambition before beginning to unfold its scenario alternating between 1932, 1937 and 2017. What links these three homosexuals? We’ll know soon enough, and we won’t tell you everything here. Let’s first enjoy the show, the tension, the emotions. And the frenzied staging of Los Javis, as in this scene punctuated by a captivating flamenco where the bodies seem moved by a foreign force. Paradoxically, this large piece of almost 2h40 loses intensity by overexplaining things that it could have been content to show.

Photo of the day: Coward by Lukas Dhont

It’s an immediate shock. This golden light which falls, obliquely, on the faces of Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne – it is perhaps the most beautiful thing we will remember from the Coward by Lukas Dhont, presented yesterday in competition. Four years after Close, the Belgian left the playground for the trenches of 14-18: Pierre, a young blue who had come to fight, met Francis there, who was putting on a theater show behind the front to warm up souls. A queer romance ripped from history, carried by two magnificent actors. The film, for its part, dreams big and still ends up weighing down: the staging supports what Close murmured, the tenderness is smothered at times under the weight of the decor. But cinematographer Frank van den Eeden creates a sumptuous score – each shot resembles a Flemish painting, each face captures the last light of the day like a final promise. If Coward had to come home with a prize, that would be it.

The revolt of the day: Javier Bardem, Ken Loach and Mark Ruffalo join the anti-Bolloré revolt

A few days after Maxime Saada’s response, declaring that Canal Plus would no longer work with the signatories of the anti-Bolloré forum, the revolt is gaining momentum and becoming international. The “Zappé Bolloré” collective announced this Thursday that the number of support for the text had increased from 600 to 3,460 professionals in the sector. And not the least: Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo, but also the Palestinian Annemarie Jacir, the Finn Aki Kaurismaki, the Greek Yorgos Lanthimos and the Brazilian Walter Salles have joined the malaise. Without forgetting of course Ken Loach, who was also in Cannes for a presentation of Land and Freedom, where the committed filmmaker said the words: “The worst thing is not the violence of the bad, but the silence of the good.”

The situation has created palpable unease at the Cannes Film Festival, where the Canal logo is regularly booed during screenings of the films in the selection. Questioned by the press, certain artists kick in or defend Canal, like Mathieu Kassovitz who believes that the channel “is doing its job very well, for the moment, and that we will have to cry when Canal Plus no longer does its job well.” Alain Chabat deplored a “two-ball pressure shot“ from the boss of Canal while Jonathan Cohen declared “understand legitimate fear” of the signatories of the platform while ensuring that the teams of the group “protect” And “make Canal a kind of island which, for the moment, produces French films in its plurality“.

Disappointment of the day: Vertigo by Quentin Dupieux (Filmmakers’ Fortnight)

A little naively, we thought that Quentin Dupieux would find a second wind with his first animated film. A funny project looking at the aesthetics of PlayStation 1 video games, with Alain Chabat and Jonathan Cohen who realize that nothing is true and that they are living in a simulation. The trailer, frankly hilarious (“Your thing pisses me off.”), promised that we were going to at least have a little split. Good. The film throws its best (only?) jokes in the first 20 minutes and then collapses, without ever taking the time to experiment with form. The visual freedom offered by animation does not interest Dupieux, who hardly attempts any visual or cartoon gags. We are still waiting for dizziness.

Performance of the day: Maika Monroe in Victorian Psycho (Un Certain Regard)

Winifred Notty, a young governess on her way to her new assignment, appears with her head strangely tilted and a creepy smile in the back of a carriage. When she stands up, the camera moves with her with a slight movement. The entire world vibrates in tune with the young lady’s whims. So begins Victorian Psycho by Zachary Wigon, gothic horror comedy presented in the section Un Certain Regardwith the quirky Maika Monroe in the skin of a crazy maid ready to ruin the souk with her new bosses.

The action takes place in a mansion in 1858. The 32-year-old American actress replaced Margaret Qualley part of the project along the way. Qualley was, however, starring in Wigon’s previous feature, Submission (2022). That does not of course prevent Monroe, discovered on the Croisette in 2014 with It Follows, to send wood. His character, responsible in particular for the education of two unbearable toddlers, will take great pleasure in perverting them. And much more. If the film, carried by an inventive staging, does not completely live up to its hype (where did A24?) its main performer experienced in anguished atmospheres (Greta, Longlegs, Hand on the cradlesoon perhaps the sequel toIt Follows…) deploys a totally enjoyable weirdo charm.

Video of the day: Adèle Exarchopolos and Sara Giraudeau for Madder (in competition)

With MadderJeanne Herry took her first steps in the Cannes competition. And after two choral films where she deciphered the functioning of institutions (Pupil And I will always see your faces), here she signs the portrait of a woman. An actress whose addiction to alcohol becomes more and more destructive. A film carried by two wonderful actresses: Adèle Exarchopoulos in the title role and Sara Giraudeau in that of her companion. They came back for First on their collaboration with the filmmaker.

Today in Cannes

It’s already (or finally?) the last day of the competition. The dream adventure by Valeska Grisebach and Night stories by Léa Mysius closes the ball and the jury will be able to begin deliberating on the Palme d’Or, which we will discover on Saturday evening during the closing ceremony. At Cannes Première, we have “Rendez-vous avec Tilda Swinton” before the presentation of The End of It by Maria Martinez Bayona (with Rebecca Hall, Gael García Bernal). Ulysses by Laetitia Masson completes Un Certain Regard, the winners of which we will discover this Friday evening.