--- title: "The Beasts: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-beasts/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-beasts" critics_score: 74 critics_reviews: 6 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Beasts (2022): what the critics said Critics' score 74 from 6 reviews: 4 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews for The Beasts are warm and closely grouped, with no outright dissent. Most critics take it as a slow-burning rural thriller about a French couple at odds with their Galician neighbours, and the praise clusters in two places: the handling of tension, built through small incidents and long takes rather than sudden shocks, and the performances, above all Marina Foïs, whom several reviews credit with carrying the film once it shifts its attention from the men to the women. Luis Zahera’s antagonist is singled out almost as often, and many critics admire the refusal to make either side simply right. The reservations are about the back half. Time Out finds the tension dissipates in the third act, The Skinny thinks the later stretch turns more conventional, and Slant Magazine objects to a reliance on plot and some static visuals. Nobody calls it a failure; the question is how well it holds its nerve. ## Radio Times — Emma Simmonds Rating 4/5. The review describes a powerful thriller with extraordinary bloody-mindedness, earthy authenticity and effective tension ramp-up in the Galician countryside. It highlights the fierce hatred fueled by xenophobia and a genuine grievance over a wind farm. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-1y7jgy/the-beasts/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 March 2023. The film is a fierce, bitter tale of class, xenophobia and rural noir, inspired by a true story of conflict between incomers and locals in Galicia. It singles out Marina Foïs’ performance for raising the movie with its steel core of anguish. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/mar/22/the-beasts-review-unsettling-rural-noir-is-a-euro-arthouse-twist-on-straw-dogs) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 24 March 2023. The critic calls it a gripping parable of rural resentment and xenophobia, humanizing the antagonists while noting strong performances and tension in the Galician setting. It praises the believable study of human conflict despite some dissipation in the third act. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-beasts-2023) ## Little White Lies — Anton Bitel Rating 4/3/4. 22 March 2023. The review highlights the film's symmetrical structure and focus on real-life inspired rural hostility, praising performances by Ménochet, Zahera, Anido and especially Foïs. It notes how the story shifts from masculine confrontation to female stoicism midway. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-beasts) ## Los Angeles Times — Carlos Aguilar 4 August 2023. Sorogoyen’s slow-simmering thriller makes it impossible to fully side with either party in the moral dilemma of outsiders versus locals. The visceral potency lies in showing how dehumanizing others enables violence, with unexpected depth in the second half. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-08-04/the-beasts-spanish-review-goyas-denis-menochet) ## RogerEbert.com — Simon Abrams 28 July 2023. The film is an atmospheric true-crime thriller that avoids simple moralizing by focusing on the intense emotional deadlock between neighbors. The director and crew excel at evoking the desolate village setting and strong ensemble performances. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-beasts-movie-review-2023) ## Screen Daily 27 May 2022. Festival review. The critic calls it a terrific psychological thriller and brooding, muscular piece of filmmaking that makes the most of the Galician backdrop and strong performances by Ménochet and Zahera. It singles out Olga/Foïs as the film's secret weapon for showing real strength. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-beasts-cannes-review/5171267.article) ## Sight and Sound — Guy Lodge 23 March 2023. The critic praises the film's tense portrayal of escalating neighbor conflicts in rural Galicia, highlighting strong performances especially from Marina Foïs as Olga. It notes the blend of social politics and psychodrama with sympathies not clearly divided. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/beasts-tense-tale-nightmare-neighbours-windswept-galicia) ## Slant Magazine 23 July 2023. The critic describes the film as a knotty rural noir that effectively switches protagonists and explores themes of machismo, gentrification, and women's fortitude amid escalating conflict. It notes the strong visual setup and performances but criticizes over-reliance on plot and static visuals. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-beasts-review-rodrigo-sorogoyen/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Jordan Mintzer 24 July 2023. The critic praises the film's searing tension and bleak portrait of rural xenophobia and cultural conflict in Galicia. Strong performances by Denis Ménochet and Marina Foïs are highlighted as the story builds to inevitable violence and explores machismo and outsider struggles. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-beasts-review-rodrigo-sorogoyen-1235543818/) ## The New York Times — Beatrice Loayza 27 July 2023. The engrossing rural thriller offers a deeper take on class tensions than typical hill-people horror. Marina Foïs carries the film as it shifts into a restrained drama about familial loyalty and womanly fortitude. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/movies/the-beasts-review.html) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Rating ★★★★☆. 24 March 2023. A toxic true-life culture clash becomes the basis for a dark and unsettling thriller that steers clear of exploitation cinema while portraying male rage and the endurance of women in rural communities. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-beasts-review-a-dash-of-straw-dogs-in-galicia-3k8hfrw89) ## Variety — Peter Debruge 28 July 2023. Festival review. Sorogoyen delivers a gripping art-house thriller that is a deeply uncomfortable portrait of everyday evil, terrifying for being rooted in real conflict. Chief Film Critic Peter Debruge praises the year’s best villain in Luis Zahera and the film’s avoidance of sensationalizing violence. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/the-beasts-review-a-disturbing-look-at-as-bestas-1235681151) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 3 March 2023. Festival review. The critic finds the film effective at building tension through minor incidents and slow takes that suggest impending violence. Sorogoyen is praised for exploring the class and cultural gulf between the middle-class French couple and the local Galician farmers without resorting to simplistic portrayals. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-beasts-2022-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## The Skinny — Fernando García Rating ★★★. 2 March 2023. The film is a solid rural thriller that builds tense, oppressive atmosphere in its first half while weaving in social commentary on rural life and gentrification via a strong long-take scene. It shifts into deeper but somewhat more conventional territory later, though strong performances and camerawork keep it rewarding overall. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/the-beasts) ## Paste — Andy Crump Rating 9.5. 31 July 2023. The critic praises Sorogoyen's assured direction and tense storytelling in this ripped-from-the-headlines thriller about outsiders clashing with locals in rural Galicia. Performances by Denis Ménochet and Marina Foïs, along with the film's subtle visual details and balanced perspective on the conflict, are highlighted as strengths. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/rodrigo-sorogoyen/the-beasts-review) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-beasts.md