As Bestas Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Sorogoyen is a master of pacing, and As Bestas functions as a slow-burn thriller that eventually explodes into visceral violence. Unlike standard Hollywood thrillers, the tension here is built not through action set pieces, but through uncomfortable silences, passive-aggressive interactions, and the crushing weight of the environment.

The film excels in its portrayal of "closed-room" dynamics—the village is a small, insular community where everyone knows everyone, and outsiders are viewed with suspicion. The neighbors are not painted as cartoonish villains; rather, they are depicted as crude, desperate, and deeply insecure men whose way of life is vanishing. This makes them terrifyingly human and unpredictable.

Rodrigo Sorogoyen, working with cinematographer Alex de Pablo, shoots Galicia as a character in its own right. Unlike the postcard-perfect green of travelogues, the Galicia of As Bestas is oppressive. The fog sits heavy like a wet blanket. The forests are tangled and impenetrable. At night, the darkness is absolute, swallowing headlights and footsteps.

Sorogoyen is a master of the long take. The film’s infamous ten-minute argument at the village bar plays out in a single, stifling wide shot. We are forced to watch Antoine’s humiliation in real-time, unable to look away as the community’s passive aggression curdles into direct threat. Later, a nighttime chase through a cornfield utilizes disorienting POV shots, turning the familiar rural landscape into a labyrinth.

The "beasts" of the title are also literal. The film features graphic scenes of horse slaughter and livestock dismemberment, grounding the violence in the visceral reality of farm life. There is no stylized Tarantino blood here; there is only the sickening crunch of bone and the cold practicality of a bolt gun.

As Bestas is not merely a thriller; it is a profound tragedy about the impossibility of coexistence when survival is at stake. Rodrigo Sorogoyen strips away romantic notions of countryside life to reveal the primal conflicts that simmer beneath the soil. By refusing to paint heroes or villains, he creates a mirror for contemporary tensions—between nations, classes, and ecologies. The final shot of Olga, standing alone in the muddy field as the villagers go about their business, is one of the most devastating endings in recent cinema. It asks a simple, haunting question: Who are the real beasts?

Recommended for: Fans of Straw Dogs (1971), The Hunting Ground (2015), Leviathan (2014), and anyone interested in slow-burn psychological horror rooted in social realism.

As Bestas (The Beasts), directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, is a 2022 psychological thriller that explores the violent collision between rural tradition and modern ideals in the remote mountains of Galicia, Spain. as bestas rodrigo sorogoyen

The film follows Antoine (Denis Ménochet) and Olga (Marina Foïs), a French couple who move to a small Galician village to practice organic farming and restore abandoned houses. Their presence sparks a simmering, xenophobic hostility from two local brothers, Xan (Luis Zahera) and Lorenzo (Diego Anido), who are desperate to sell their land to a wind energy developer—a deal that requires unanimous village consent, which Antoine refuses to give. Key Themes and Analysis

The Conflict of "Progress": The narrative centers on the controversial implementation of renewable energies in the Spanish rural landscape, where wind turbines are viewed by locals as a financial lifeline and by the French "outsiders" as an ecological threat.

Xenophobia and Class: The tension is fueled by a "law of the jungle" dynamic, where the brothers view Antoine’s refusal as a luxury of the wealthy, while they remain trapped in systemic poverty.

Gender and Resilience: The film's structure shifts significantly in its second half, transitioning from a male-dominated thriller to a story of quiet, persistent female resilience as Olga continues their mission despite mounting tragedy.

Ecological Cinema: Critics categorize the film alongside others like Alcarràs as part of a new wave of Spanish environmental cinema that moves beyond "beautifying" nature to address complex sociopolitical conflicts over land exploitation. Critical Reception and Awards

Goya Awards: The film dominated the 37th Goya Awards, winning nine categories, including Best Film, Best Director (Sorogoyen), and Best Actor (Ménochet).

César Awards: It won the César Award for Best Foreign Film in France. Sorogoyen is a master of pacing, and As

Performances: Luis Zahera’s portrayal of Xan is widely cited as a standout performance, capturing a terrifyingly grounded brand of rural menace.

The film is noted for its high-tension "modern noir" style, particularly in scenes like the bar confrontations and the harrowing climax in the woods. My 2023: A Year Interrupted | Nobody Knows Anybody

At its heart, The Beasts is a film about the crisis of masculinity.

Antoine (Denis Ménochet) is a physically imposing man, yet he attempts to solve problems through dialogue, patience, and legal channels. Xan (Luis Zahera) and Lorenzo (Diego Anido) represent a toxic, fading form of machismo—insecure, uneducated, and prone to aggression when they feel their authority slipping away.

The brilliance of the script is that it doesn’t paint the brothers as cartoon villains. We see glimpses of their economic desperation and their feeling of being left behind by modern society. They are "the beasts" of the title, yes, but beasts that feel cornered.

Luis Zahera’s performance as Xan is particularly chilling. He won a Goya for this role, and for good reason: he oscillates between pathetic drunkenness and terrifying volatility in the blink of an eye.

As Bestas cannot be separated from the socio-political reality of "La España Vacía" (Empty Spain). For decades, Spanish political and economic life has centered on Madrid and Barcelona, leaving rural provinces—especially Galicia, Aragon, and Castile—to depopulate and decay. At its heart, The Beasts is a film

The wind turbine conflict is real. Across Spain, green energy deals have exacerbated the divide between environmentalists (often urban incomers) and farmers (who need the cash). Sorogoyen captures the irony: the very people who claim to love the land are often the ones blocking the rural poor from making a living from it.

Xan represents the rage of a forgotten class. He is not a fascist or a political extremist; he is a farmer who watches his neighbors move to the city while his land is valued only for its emptiness. When he destroys Antoine’s garden, he is attacking a symbol of privilege. The film’s genius is that while you recoil from his violence, you understand the despair that fuels it.

In the vast, windswept plains of Galicia, Spain, a different kind of horror movie is playing out. It doesn't feature jump scares, gothic castles, or supernatural entities. Instead, its terror is rooted in something far more primal: land, pride, and the thin, rusted wire of civilized discourse. Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s 2022 masterpiece, As Bestas (released internationally as The Beasts), is a slow-burn thriller that burrows under your skin with the persistence of a wood tick.

Following the international acclaim of The Realm (2018) and Mother (2019), Sorogoyen pivots from political corruption and real-time grief to a stark, rural fable. What emerges is arguably his most mature, harrowing, and essential work—a film that won nine Goya Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

This article dissects the mechanics of As Bestas: its narrative engine, its thematic brutality, the extraordinary performances, and why the film serves as a chilling allegory for a fractured Europe.

| Character | Role | Moral ambiguity | |-----------|------|----------------| | Antoine (Denis Ménochet) | Idealist, stubborn | Naïve but sympathetic | | Olga (Marina Foïs) | Pragmatic survivor | Clear-eyed, determined | | Xan (Luis Zahera) | Aggressive, charismatic leader | Violent but also victim of abandonment (wife left, only land remains) | | Lorenzo (Diego Anido) | The mute enforcer | Tragic figure – softer, trapped by brotherly loyalty |