Sorogoyen might give lip service to the economic realities underlying the land dispute, but he’s also not afraid to take sides and to entertain.

| Dec 9, 2023

It becomes unbearably tense, really, really properly tense.

| Dec 6, 2023

Impressive in its setting, positive outlook, and in its reference to character development. [Full review in Spanish]

| Oct 5, 2023

A well-made and eerie thriller.

| Aug 17, 2023

For its second half, in the aftermath of a twist that shouldn’t be spoiled, the film takes on an unexpected depth and even a semblance of closure, though it shouldn’t be a surprise that no one fully gets what they want.

| Aug 7, 2023

In balancing the two sides’ competing motives, Mr. Sorogoyen has fashioned not only a taut drama but a parable that is widely applicable across many cultures at this moment.

| Aug 1, 2023

“The Beasts” may not be realistic, but it is genuinely eerie.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 28, 2023

A deeply uncomfortable portrait of everyday evil that’s all the more terrifying for being true — not the two main characters, who are fictional, but the conflict that comes to define their new life in that wild corner of northwest Spain.

| Jul 28, 2023

A controlled and concise pot-boiler of stresses and strains that nobody is capable of managing, much less quelling.

| Jul 28, 2023

An engrossing rural thriller...

| Jul 27, 2023

From its very first minute, this searing drama of rural strife, xenophobia and cultural hostility is filled with almost unbearable tension...

| Jul 24, 2023

The film is as much about the beastliness of outmoded machismo as it is about the perseverance and fortitude of women in opposition to it.

| Jul 23, 2023

A terrific, gripping drama that will cross cultural borders with ease.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 27, 2023

There is, inevitably, a dash of Straw Dogs and Deliverance here, but Sorogoyen deftly steers the drama clear of exploitation cinema.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 27, 2023

Sorogoyen uses long, single-take scenes to capture the explosive buildup of tension; it’s a breathlessly compelling device that showcases the phenomenal quality of the acting.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 26, 2023

Sorogoyen has made a brilliantly written, superbly acted film with the grave heft of non-fiction: a glimpse of stark truths behind that lush Galician landscape.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 24, 2023

A riveting, merciless study of human nature, so cleverly tense throughout that even a game of dominoes becomes menacing. You didn’t know a game of dominoes could be menacing? Trust me, it can.

| Mar 23, 2023

the big three-cornered duel that would be the climax of a western comes here at the half-way point and allows the rest of the film to abandon masculine bluster and focus on a quieter female stoicism.

| Mar 23, 2023

The Beasts is a strange film in many ways, difficult to pin down tonally or generically, but it leaves a trail of unease in the mind.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 22, 2023