Beautiful Beings (2022)
4.0 of 5 from 48 ratings
2h 3min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Iceland's official submission to the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film! Addi (Birgir Dagur Bjarkason), a boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, decides to adopt a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders. Left to their own devices, the boys explore aggression and violence but also learn about loyalty and love. As the group's behavior escalates towards life-threatening situations, Addi begins to experience a series of dreamlike visions. Can his newfound intuition guide him and his friends back to a safer path, or will they dive irrevocably into further violence? Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson follows up his acclaimed film 'Heartstone' with an intimate and bold vision that "shakes you up before it melts your heart" (Eye For Film). - Actors:
- Birgir Dagur Bjarkason, Áskell Einar Pálmason, Viktor Benóný Benediktsson, Snorri Rafn Frímannsson, Anita Briem, Ísgerður Elfa Gunnarsdóttir, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Kristín Ísold Jóhannesdóttir, Blær Hinriksson, Theodór Pálsson, Kamilla Guðrún Lowen, Aðalbjörg Emma Hafsteinsdóttir, Sunna Líf Arnarsdóttir, Davíð Guðbrandsson, Þórhildur Ingunn, Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir, Árni Arnarson, Stefán Franz Guðnason, Arnar Dan Kristjánsson, Bragi Arnason
- Directors:
- Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
- Producers:
- Anton Máni Svansson
- Writers:
- Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
- Aka:
- Berdreymi / Chicken Boy
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Drama
- Countries:
- Iceland
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Reviews (1) of Beautiful Beings
Mum probably would not want to go to Iceland if it's all like this! Well-made/acted overlong film. - Beautiful Beings review by PV
I loved the director's HEARTSTONE. This is not quite as good, just a tad bloated and overlong esp in 2nd half and 3rd act.
As ever, I could do without the cod spiritual stuff - I always think that's a bit of a cop-out, a way for film makers to try and spice up a story, but it actually has the reverse effect.
This film starts brilliantly, exploring the bullying dynamic of a teenage boy gang - the amateur actors here do so well, utterly believable and naturalistic performances by all the boys. Not sure I believe some of the plot strands but...
But gosh, is Iceland really all druggies and criminals, the deranged, the sex pest perverted, not to mention the level of mental illness! And the colourful painted wooden houses all look so pretty. Instead it's a hotbed of abuse and madness. It's probably eating all that fish that does it. And remember in 16th century Europe, Iceland was actually stated as the geographic entrance to hell itself (see VIKINGS).
Flawed and overlong, but a decent film about the dynamics of teenage boys, their friendships, loves and hates. And all done without the silly boybashing manblaming moral panic of the very feminised media and TV/film industry in the UK, and our feminised politics getting hysterical about the socalled manosphere and 'toxic masculinity' socalled, words and concepts invented by misandrists maybe?
CLOSE is another films (this time Flemish/Belgian by Lukas Dhont) which nails it. WAY better than anything any Netflix/UK TV drama has done re the same subject. This writer/director really GETS teenage boys with sympathy and lived experience no doubt. Could not be different from the unpleasant boybashing attitude of the moralising movies and TV dramas made on the same subject, and the ensuing pofaced prissy moral panic of politicans and manblaming feminists.
4 stars. Maybe 4.5
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