As Bestas Rodrigo Sorogoyen [2024-2026]
Rodrigo Sorogoyen does not shoot Galicia as a postcard. He shoots it as a labyrinth. Cinematographer Álex de Pablo uses wide shots that dwarf the human figures. The monte (the mountain bushland) is a character in itself—scratchy, flammable, and impenetrable. In the film’s most stunning sequence (the night of the murder), the camera stays static as the characters vanish into the thick fog. We hear the screams before we see the act. It is a return to classical Greek tragedy: the violence happens off-stage, but its echo is unbearable.
The sound design is a masterwork. The mooing of distant cows, the screech of a woodcutter’s saw, the howl of the wind through the eucalyptus trees—these are not background noises; they are the weapons of psychological warfare.
Sorogoyen also deploys a devastating narrative trick: empathy. For the first hour, we hate Xan. But in the final act, we see him humiliated, trapped by his own crime, his family falling apart. When he weeps in his truck, we realize he is also a victim of the land’s brutal logic. He is not a monster; he is a man who has become monstrous.
Structurally, Sorogoyen borrows heavily from the revisionist western. We have the outsiders entering a rugged landscape, clashing with the locals, and a conflict over land usage. However, Sorogoyen subverts the genre. There are no quick-draw shootouts. Instead, the "weaponry" used by the antagonists is frustratingly mundane: they blare loud music at night, they block the road with tractors, and they steal eggs from the chicken coop.
This banality makes the film terrifyingly realistic. It captures the helpless rage of being harassed in a place where the law is distant and social codes are rigid. as bestas rodrigo sorogoyen
The title is a clever trap. Who are the beasts?
On the surface, it is Xan and Lorenzo. Luis Zahera delivers a volcanic, Goya-winning performance as Xan—a man so poisoned by resentment that his face twitches with barely contained rage. He is not a cartoon villain. He is a product of a dying rural economy who sees a foreigner dictating the terms of his survival. When Xan snarls, "You don’t know what hunger is," he reveals the wound: the urban elite preserving nature for their own aesthetic pleasure while rural communities starve.
Yet, the film forces us to look at Antoine. Is his stubborn idealism a form of monstrosity? He claims to be defending the landscape, but he is willing to sacrifice the economic well-being of an entire village for his principles. He refuses to compromise, to negotiate, or to leave. In the context of the community, his sainthood looks like arrogance. Sorogoyen refuses to pick a side. The beasts are not the brothers; the beast is the situation itself—a zero-sum game where empathy dies.
As Bestas is a haunting film that lingers with the viewer long after the credits roll. It is a tragedy disguised as a thriller, showing how the refusal to communicate and the protection of petty pride can lead to devastating consequences. Sorogoyen has established himself as a vital voice in European cinema, capable of weaving social commentary into gripping, edge-of-your-seat storytelling. Rodrigo Sorogoyen does not shoot Galicia as a postcard
| 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 |
One of the film’s most chilling aspects is the silence of the village. No one helps Antoine because everyone is related to the brothers by blood or debt. When the violence escalates, the rural police are useless, and the city-based legal system cannot penetrate the code of omertà that governs the hamlet. Sorogoyen paints a portrait of Spain where the state has retreated, leaving behind a lawless, almost feudal social order.
Most thrillers end when the killer is caught or the hero escapes. As Bestas ends where it began: in the mud, the rain, and the silence of the Galician hills. Olga remains in the village. The wind turbines eventually go up. The brothers face justice, but the scorched earth remains.
Rodrigo Sorogoyen has crafted a film that refuses to let the audience off the hook. It is a horror movie about property lines. A thriller about pronouns (us vs. them). A tragedy where the villain is the architecture of capitalism itself. Hereditary vs
As Bestas is not a comfortable watch. It is a necessary one. It holds a mirror to the rural-urban divide and asks us to see the beast within our own reflection. In an age of polarization, Sorogoyen suggests that the most dangerous animal is not the wolf in the woods—it is the human being backed into a corner with no way out but through.
Rating: 5/5
Where to watch: Currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video (international) and Movistar Plus+ (Spain).
If you liked this: You must also watch The Hunting Ground (Spain, 2017), Marshland (2014), and The Cow who Sang a Song into the Future (2022).
Have you seen As Bestas? Do you think Antoine was right to refuse the wind turbines, or was his intransigence a form of suicide? Share your thoughts in the comments below.