El Bola traces Pablo's relationship with Alfredo (Pablo Galán), a more confident, sophisticated schoolmate who befriends him and takes him to an amusement park, where Alfredo exchanges a chaste kiss with the older male ticket taker for two free passes. Alfredo becomes a role model of independence and fearlessness for Pablo. And when Pablo introduces Alfredo to his friends at the railroad tracks, Alfredo shrugs off the other boys' contempt after he refuses to play chicken.

As their friendship deepens, Alfredo leads Pablo into the bosom of his extended family, where Pablo discovers an easygoing camaraderie and nurturing warmth that are the exact opposite of the prisonlike atmosphere of his home. Alfredo's father, José (Alberto Jiménez), is a free-spirited tattoo artist and the center of a bohemian group of friends, many of whom have died of AIDS. One day Pablo accompanies Alfredo to the hospital to visit Alfredo's "godfather", who is near death.

As blunt as it is in depicting child abuse, El Bola is a movie steeped in an ambiguity that lends its conflicts a symbolic resonance. Its juxtaposition of two such radically opposing models of family could be seen as a metaphor for Spain in the Franco and post-Franco eras. In contrasting the brutal, repressive Mariano and the fun-loving, possibly bisexual José, it explores the definition of fatherhood and paternal authority. Late in the film, when Alfredo flagrantly disobeys José, who slaps him, the movie seems to view that slap as more appropriate discipline.

Excerpt from Stephen Holden, The New York Times