“While the land may be fertile, it is drenched in bad blood,” writes Wendy Ide of the Galician farming village featured in The Beasts. One encounters similar portents in other reviews of Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s award-winner: “a fierce, bitter tale”; “a clash of the Titans”; and again from Ide, “simmering,” “creeping,” with “an explosive buildup of tension.” The Beasts tells the story of a French couple’s attempt to settle in the “wild west” of Spain and the xenophobic conflicts that ensue. The plot takes inspiration from true events—a dimension that becomes increasingly frightening as the film progresses. Receiving Best Picture honors at the Goya Awards, The Beasts serves as a haunting, albeit masterful reminder of mankind’s sinister capacities. —Jack Sullivan