As Bestas Rodrigo Sorogoyen _verified_ (2024)

Released in 2022, (The Beasts) is a psychological thriller and modern western directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. It centers on the escalating conflict between a French couple and their Galician neighbors over land and a proposed wind farm project. The film swept the 37th Goya Awards, winning nine prizes, including Best Film , Best Director , and Best Original Screenplay . Core Narrative and Themes

The camera often lingers on the texture of the earth—the mud, the rotting wood, the overgrown foliage. This is not the romanticized Spain of tourist brochures; it is a harsh, rural reality where nature is indifferent to human suffering. The 1.33:1 aspect ratio (a nearly square frame) adds to this claustrophobia. By cutting off the breadth of the landscape, Sorogoyen forces the viewer to focus on the characters' faces and the immediate, crumbling environment around them. There is nowhere to look away, no escape from the tension that builds in the heavy, silent stares between Antoine and the brothers.

The acclaimed film (internationally titled The Beasts ), directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen , is a masterclass in modern psychological thriller and neo-noir cinema. Set in the rugged mountains of Galicia, the film explores the harrowing escalation of a neighborly dispute between a French couple and local villagers. Synopsis and True Story Inspiration as bestas rodrigo sorogoyen

Most directors use rural settings as postcards. Sorogoyen uses them as a throat. Galicia here is not lush and green—it is wet, dark, and claustrophobic. The forests feel like walls. The night is absolute. You feel the isolation not as peace, but as a trap.

At its core, As Bestas is a simple story: a French couple (Antoine and Olga) have moved to a depopulated village in inland Galicia to live off the land and restore eco-friendly farms. The locals, specifically two brothers (Xan and Lorenzo), want them to sell their land for a lucrative wind turbine project. Antoine refuses. Released in 2022, (The Beasts) is a psychological

Rodrigo Sorogoyen has crafted a film that feels ancient and urgent at the same time. It is a tragedy about the impossibility of communion, a horror film about the price of stubbornness, and a masterpiece of European cinema. If you haven't seen it yet, prepare yourself. The beasts are waiting.

In the canon of modern Spanish cinema, few directors have navigated the complexities of the thriller genre with as much precision and psychological depth as Rodrigo Sorogoyen. Known for his ability to blend sociopolitical commentary with pulse-pounding tension—evident in films like El Reino (The Realm) and his Oscar-nominated short Madre —Sorogoyen reached a new zenith with his 2022 masterpiece, As Bestas . Core Narrative and Themes The camera often lingers

Midway through As Bestas , the film executes a tonal shift so shocking that audiences have been reported to gasp audibly. Without revealing everything, suffice to say that Sorogoyen takes a narrative risk that most Hollywood directors would never dare. He kills off the protagonist we have been following.

Have you seen it? Did you find yourself sympathizing with Xan at any point? Let me know in the comments—just don’t tell me you’d move to that village.

Without spoiling anything, the film takes a sharp turn about 70 minutes in. What starts as a Straw Dogs survival thriller morphs into a courtroom drama and then into a raw study of grief and stubbornness. Sorogoyen trusts his audience to follow him into the dark. Most directors would end the movie at the climax. He keeps going for another 40 minutes—and it’s the best part.

To understand As Bestas , one must understand its director. Rodrigo Sorogoyen is not a filmmaker interested in cheap jump scares. He is the heir to the throne of sustained, unbearable tension. His previous film, Madre (2019), was a 20-minute short (nominated for an Oscar) expanded into a feature about a mother’s limitless dread. His political thriller The Realm ( El Reino ) dissected corruption with the pace of a ticking bomb.