Rodrigo Sorogoyen ((full)) | As Bestas

The story centers on Antoine (Denis Ménochet) and Olga (Marina Foïs), a middle-aged French couple who have relocated to a remote village in the Galician interior. Their goal is peaceful: to renovate abandoned houses and farm the land, cultivating a life in harmony with nature.

Like the characters in the film, the real-life couple sought a sustainable, peaceful life off the grid. However, a decade-long dispute with a neighboring family over the rights to communal land and wind turbine payouts culminated in Verfondern’s murder in 2010. By grounding the script in this tragic reality, Sorogoyen ensures that the escalating hostility onscreen never feels like Hollywood sensationalism; it feels like an inevitable, devastating tragedy. Narrative Breakdown: A Tale of Two Halves

By anchoring As Bestas in this framework, Sorogoyen taps into an authentic, deeply rooted territorial anxiety that lends the film its terrifying plausibility. Themes: Xenophobia, Environmentalism, and Class Friction

: The film was a major success on the awards circuit, winning nine Goya Awards as bestas rodrigo sorogoyen

As Bestas is a powerful, demanding film that stays with the viewer long after the credits roll. Rodrigo Sorogoyen has created a masterpiece that is, at its heart, an examination of human cruelty, the struggle for a better life, and the devastating impact of conflict over land and ideology. Key Film Details Rodrigo Sorogoyen

What follows is a masterclass in escalating tension. Sorogoyen, known for his kinetic thriller May God Save Us , here employs a slower, more oppressive rhythm. The first act is a catalogue of micro-aggressions: dirty looks in the bar, poisoned dogs, sabotaged fences. Xan and Lorenzo do not roar; they whisper threats. Luis Zahera’s Xan is a tornado of paranoid rage, while Diego Anido’s Lorenzo is a silent, hulking shadow—the physical id to Xan’s verbal ego.

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What followed was not a fight. It was a threshing. The camera, if one were watching, would not cut away. It would hold on the mud, the blood, the terrible intimacy of a man’s breath turning to rattle. The valley listened. The owls did not hoot. The wind, the real wind, did not howl. It held its breath.

A feminine, stoic study of grief, resilience, and quiet justice centered around Olga. The story centers on Antoine (Denis Ménochet) and

Sorogoyen avoids the simplistic trap of portraying the French couple as purely saintly victims and the locals as backward villains. The conflict is deeply rooted in class dynamics and economic disparity.

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.