![]() The arrival of Jimmy’s estranged sister, Julia (Swala Emati), throws a spanner in the works. Mum Joanne (Adèle Exarchopoulos) is concerned but somewhat distracted by her own problems – chief among them, a loveless marriage to Vicky’s dad, Jimmy (Moustapha Mbengue). A horrifying concept for some, I’m sure, but a solid starting point for co-writer and director Léa Mysius’s beguiling, often brilliant French drama.Įight-year-old Vicky (Sally Dramé) boasts an extraordinary sense of smell and has become obsessed with reproducing and collecting the scents of those closest to her. Our parents had lives before we came along. It might also make you rethink any dreams about a simpler existence in the countryside. It was the unanimous choice for Best Film by the Dublin Film Critics Circle during this year’s Dublin International Film Festival. This is an unorthodox Western-drama-thriller whose brilliant cast and unusual tempo changes distinguish it as essential viewing. It’s not simply a matter of bad blood. Xan’s priorities and worldview are so starkly different to Antoine’s – so primal and unflinching in their hatred – that he chills us to the core in a couple of scenes. It is at times disquieting how he can telegraph such dark intent from behind the eyes. There won’t be many screen villains this year to match his Xan – who in a lurching gaze or venom-fuelled monologue is able to speak to a world far from diplomacy or understanding. His performance proves hard to shake off afterwards. The cast is roundly excellent, but the show is stolen by Zahera. Here, the couple’s unsettled daughter (Marie Colomb) arrives from France with an outsider’s perspective on the conflict that her parents are succumbing to. Writing with regular collaborator Isabel Peña, Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen brings us up into the hills of Galicia. Those old urban myths naturally came to mind watching The Beasts, an excellent slow-burn thriller about a rural dispute that gets out of hand once new idealism and old resentments clash. These were small acts of mischief – but they carried a clear enough message. Fresh damage to paintwork would mysteriously show up on cars. Others, however, found themselves on the wrong end of local neighbours who clashed with them over boundaries, planning permission, land use, what have you. Some couldn’t hack the long winters of horizontal rain and packed up. Whether these blow-ins were wealthy retirees seeking the good life, or celebrities purchasing a bolthole they could use to escape from the limelight, the West was far enough off the beaten path back then to offer a stark departure from the metropolitan rat race. ![]() In the Connemara of my youth, there were stories you’d hear from time to time about blow-ins – who, not long after settling in the region, found themselves having to blow out once again. The Beasts Five stars In selected cinemas No cert
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