![The Beasts The Beasts film image, director Rodrigo Sorogoyen](https://images.viff.org/uploads/2022/08/Beasts.jpg?resize=600%2C337&gravity)
North American Premiere
In this gripping, tense rural thriller about a French couple trying to make a new life by starting a farm and fixing abandoned homes in Galicia, Spain, director Rodrigo Sorogoyen presents the feral underbelly of country life where tensions between foreigners and locals, educated and uneducated, brutally come to the fore. The sense of immediacy and undercurrent of aggression—emphasized by a pulsing, suspenseful score—permeate each masterful scene, as the conflict between French farmer Antoine and local brothers Xan and Lorenzo, escalates scene by scene.
Filled with powerful performances, especially by the brilliant Marina Foïs, who dominates the latter half of the film with her stubborn determination.
The latest from Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen is a terrific psychological thriller and a brooding, muscular piece of filmmaking which makes the most of both the Galician backdrop and the imposing physicality of Menochet and, as his nemesis Xan, the remarkable Luis Zahera.”—Wendy Ide, Screen Daily
Audience Award for Best European Film, San Sebastian 2022
Denis Ménochet, Marina Foïs, Luis Zahera, Diego Anido, Marie Colomb
Spain/France
2022
In Spanish, French, and Galician with English subtitles
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Credits
Executive Producer
Sandra Tapia
Producer
Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé, Sandra Tapia Díaz, Eduardo Villanueva, Nacho Lavilla, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, Jean Labadie, Anne-Laure Labadie, Thomas Pibarot
Screenwriter
Isabel Peña, Rodrigo Sorogoyen
Cinematography
Alejandro de Pablo
Editor
Alberto del Campo
Original Music
Olivier Arson
Art Director
Jose Tirado
Director
![Rodrigo Sorogoyen Rodrigo Sorogoyen headshot, The Beasts director](https://images.viff.org/uploads/2022/08/RodrigoSorogoyen.jpg?fit=50%2C40)
Rodrigo Sorogoyen
In addition to Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s extensive work in television, he has directed several award-winning films: Stockholm (2013), Que Dios nos perdone (2016), El Reino (2018), the Oscar-nominated short film Madre (2017), and its feature version in 2019. He recently directed the TV series Antidisturbios and El Doble, one of the four episodes in the remake of Historias para no dormir. His latest works are El Gestor, an episode for the series Apagón, and The Beasts, his fifth feature film.
Filmography: Stockholm (2013); Que Dios nos perdone (2016); El Reino (2018); Madre (2019)