Bestia (2021)

Bestia Review

Bestia is a 2021 Chilean animated short film directed by Hugo Covarrubias. It is a very disturbing watch.

The movie is set in the seventies during Chilean military dictatorship that saw thousands tortured, murdered or missing. The protagonist is Ingrid Olderock, a monster of a woman who tortured her victims by training her dog to rape them. Yes, this actually happens in this deranged movie that was definitely not an easy watch.

It was the darkest chapter in Chilean history and the movie portrays these events, but it still requires further knowledge and/or homework on your own part. It is a great history lesson, but it did prove to be a bit too disturbing and ambiguous for my taste. The highlights here are twofold. The score is brilliantly haunting and perfectly accompanying its horror atmosphere while the stop-motion animation is meticulously crafted and very creepy as well. The highlight is the imagery of the porcelain-faced protagonist with a bullet hole on her head.

Bestia is a disturbing movie, but it’s an important history lesson. The animation and the score significantly bolster its horrifying nature.

My Rating – 4