By Matthew Moorcroft

Strong Recommendation

• Directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen
• Starring Denis Menochet, Marina Fois, Luis Zahera, Diego Anido
• Not Rated

A horse to the slaughter is what opens The Beasts. Two brothers wrestle a horse presumably to death, for no other reason then to simply assert dominance. And yet, when we see the horses again, they do not obey, instead content to go their own way and find some kind of peace in a world that seems to despise them for simply existing as is.

This is an apt metaphor for Antoine and Olga, our two leads of the picture and the French immigrants at the center of The Beasts‘ main conflict. By the time the story starts up, the two are already being harassed and accosted on a daily basis, and we start near the very end when the escalation is becoming too much to bear. Initially, we see this point of view from Antoine, whose attempts to deescalate the situation only manage to make things worse. Half of the tension of The Beasts is knowing the inevitable outcome from the start, and while it takes a while to get there the slow burn is a dread filled nightmare.

Director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, who has become a minor household name in his native Spain, has described the film as a “classic western” and the vibes are certainly there. While there is an oppressive atmosphere to the small village that the majority of the story takes place in, the actual peaks and valleys of the wilderness are gorgeously shot. The wide landscapes showcase the beauty of a nature that is under threat from people who want to change that balance to suit their own needs. Maybe even perhaps understandably! Once it becomes clear the harassment is less about xenophobia and more about anger at the world at large you can almost yourself understand the two brothers who are causing the ruckus.

And by the time The Beasts reaches it’s seeming climax, you are gripped. It makes a great case for being one of the great thrillers of it’s year by that point, with said climax ending on such a pitch perfect yet haunting note. It’s hard to ignore Sorogoyen’s craft by this point as well, whose lack of score forces you to lock in one some truly oppressive sound design at points that feels disturbingly realistic in ways that most films try to avoid.

And then it keeps going. The Beasts plays a tricky card with around 40 minutes left to go in it’s runtime that recontextualizes the story, and I’m not entirely sure it’s fully warranted even though it totally works within what Sorogoyen wants to do here. Our perspective shifts to Antoine’s wife, Olga, as the film explores the ramifications of the actions of men and puts an eye on toxic masculinity as the culprit. Men kill each other and women are left to their own devices.

It’s also a change of pace that somewhat kills momentum a tiny bit, even if it’s presence is completely understandable. Frankly I don’t really know how to deal with this section of the film in the long term other then as a necessary piece that was always going to feel out of place in the long run. It ultimately does provide a strong resolution, as it gives the chance of healing in a situation where there otherwise wouldn’t be, and that alone gives it reason to exist.

It’s for this reason I find myself at a crossroads but ultimately fascinated by The Beasts. It’s very possible this gets even better on rewatches, and writing about the film at large has already given me more to chew on and digest. It’s a massive amount of credit to Sorogoyen who clearly has crafted something meaty here and has become one director I’m really curious to watch evolve over the next several years (as well as go back and discover other films he may have done). Definitely a strong effort from Spain and worth checking out for anyone in the mood for excellent performances and nail-biting tension.