The conflict is immediate and economic. A Chinese wind power company is paying villagers for access to their land. The brothers Xan (Luis Zahera) and Lorenzo (Diego Anido)—known locally as "the beasts"—are the gatekeepers of the village. They have agreed to sell their plots, making a substantial profit. Antoine, however, refuses to sell the plot that sits between the brothers’ land and the proposed turbine site. Without his signature, the deal collapses.
The result is a psychological thriller that functions as a modern-day Western, exploring the explosive intersection of xenophobia, class warfare, and the grueling reality of rural life. The Premise: A Conflict of Ideals
This sequence establishes the film's core motif: the physical subdual of the wild by the dominant. Later in the film, when physical violence erupts, the choreography deliberately mirrors the horse-wrestling technique shown in the opening. It highlights the thin veneer of civilization masking base human instincts. Directorial Style and Technical Execution
Lorenzo did not speak. He simply picked up a fence post—the one Antoine had just repaired—and hefted it. as bestas rodrigo sorogoyen
The central conflict arises when the couple refuses to sign off on a wind farm development deal. This project requires unanimous community consent to proceed. For the native villagers, particularly the neighboring brothers Xan (Luis Zahera) and Lorenzo (Diego Anido), the wind farm represents their only financial escape from a lifetime of grueling poverty. Antoine’s veto effectively traps them in a cycle of destitution.
What elevates As Bestas from a standard home-invasion thriller into a cinematic masterpiece is its thematic depth. Sorogoyen explores the dark side of the "back to the land" movement. He contrasts the romanticized, eco-friendly idealism of wealthy urbanites with the harsh, generational despair of rural locals who view the land not as a sanctuary, but as a prison they cannot afford to escape.
The first half of the film is driven by an escalating campaign of psychological warfare led by Xan. He uses passive-aggressive barbs in the local tavern, poisons Antoine’s water supply, and engages in dangerous vehicular intimidation. The conflict is immediate and economic
Set in the rugged, depopulated countryside of Galicia, the story follows a French couple who find themselves in a terrifying conflict with two local brothers over a proposed wind farm development. What begins as simmering tension and small-scale intimidation quickly escalates into a psychological nightmare of violence, xenophobia, and survival.
As Bestas is a challenging, intense, and deeply moving film. It forces the audience to confront uncomfortable truths about rural life, environmental progress, and human cruelty. Rodrigo Sorogoyen has created a timeless, localized story that reflects larger universal themes of conflict and survival. It is essential viewing for anyone interested in contemporary European cinema.
Beneath its surface-level depiction of a hunting trip gone awry, "As Bestas" teems with symbolism and thematic resonance. Sorogoyen engages with a range of ideas, from the Aristotelian concept of "thymos" (the spiritedness that drives human beings) to the tensions between nature and culture. They have agreed to sell their plots, making
A wind energy company offers to buy the villagers' land for a wind farm project. While the locals see this as their only ticket out of poverty, the French couple refuses to sell, blocking the deal for everyone. Narrative Structure:
The film follows Antoine (Denis Ménochet) and Olga (Marina Foïs), an educated French couple who have relocated to a decaying Galician village. They practice organic farming and voluntarily rehabilitate abandoned stone houses to revive the local ecosystem.
After sweeping the Goya Awards (winning 9 major prizes including Best Film and Best Director) and receiving a 12-minute standing ovation at Cannes, The Beasts has cemented itself as one of the most important pieces of Spanish cinema in recent years. But what makes it so effective?