The Beasts (2022)

A French couple, Antoine and Olga, migrate to rural Galicia, Spain, hoping for a new life running their organic farm. They soon lock horns with locals over a land redevelopment opportunity. Antoine rejects change to preserve the village, while the locals seek a better life by accepting the deal, leading to mounting animosity from the couple’s neighbours, brothers Xan and Lorenzo. Prolonged tensions and violent onslaughts mark the pairs’ feud as it engulfs a town grappling with change in this disquieting psychological drama. Writer-director Rodrigo Sorogoyen dramatises the collision between modern ideologies and traditional practices, warning of its consequences on our communities. His take on city-versus-countryside subverts expectations of who favours or opposes urban advancements and their different ambitions. Inspired by real incidents, the dark realities of these clashes raise socio-political questions of land rights, gentrification and redevelopment efforts, especially in today’s globalised world. As these concerns drive the conflict between our emblematic protagonists, The Beasts presents tradition and modernity as polarising but inextricable. Since its recent release and global recognition, Sorogoyen’s work in The Beasts is widely acclaimed for its commentary on relevant European issues – concerning local Spanish relations with foreign nations, as well as contesting European policies. Nuanced characters and tensions in the film bring critical social issues to the forefront in Sorogoyen’s political spin on the slow-burn thriller genre.