Beautiful Beings

This is nothing for lovers of the Icelandic countryside, which goes practically unseen here. The story could have been set in a similar slum/industrial area on the outskirts of Manchester. The friendship between teenagers at a time of rising violence and bullying among young people is often cruel and bleak, but also balanced by the support between them and their protectiveness. Though Beautiful Beings is not very original in terms of theme or execution, it is dramatically intense. [KVIFF] (03/07/2022)

A very good social drama from Iceland, for me the third strongest moment of this year's KVIFF. The film follows a group of teenage misfits whose unruly behaviour stems from their dismal family circumstances, yet they occasionally flash glimpses of humanity and kindness. Beautiful Creatures' plot twists, relatively familiar from films about troubled young people, are spiced up with an esoteric motif that adds a unique atmosphere, and it’s also used to build up a rather unpleasant sense of anticipation of some inevitable catastrophe that the action is likely to lead to. In the final act it kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending actually surprises in this respect and offers a different type of catharsis than I expected. (56th KVIFF) (10/07/2022)

The Siegers of an Icelandic housing estate or another grim and harsh film from the North. A film about friendship and during extreme situations. Here meet the lead character Balli, bullied at school, ignored at home, living a miserable life in squalor, who out of pity is taken under the wing of young Addi and his gang, whose transformation over the course of the film is unreal. Addi acts rational and grows up, Konni is a bully and the biggest scumbag and Siggi is a freak. We follow the teenage troubles as they go on crazy adventures and it's raw, naturalistic, uncomfortable, but also heartbreaking and sad at times. The film builds on great child performances, strong social commentary, and the unglamorous setting of Reykjavik full of strange individuals and underprivileged families. The film isn't afraid of bullying, violence, fights, drugs and there was even a rape of a boy by a boy, so it is definitely a powerful thing that won't leave just anyone cold. The finale is properly shocking. 8/10. (02/12/2022)

Beautiful Beings, co-produced by Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and the Czech Republic, is in many ways nothing new. Yet it doesn’t follow a trivial formula and the bullied, neglected and shy Balli is not the protagonist but the main symbol of youthful suffering in a broken family. The most space is given to his peer Addi, the only one of the group of four to have a loving, if slightly weird, mother. Through his perceptive lens, we see the bleak existence of 14-year-old boys from a poor suburb. The title group, which includes the loser Balli, is dominated by the burly Konni, who compensates for his strained family relations with his father with violent fights. The boys tease each other and entertain themselves with risky ventures and light drugs, but at the same time they stick together and try to find a bit of understanding in a world ruled by physically stronger and more mentally corrupt adults. Guðmundsson, the director, brings us closer to the characters precisely by casually depicting their childlike nature and by suggesting the complete absence of emotion on the part of the parents, and when they get into a fight, we understand their frustration. Moreover, the scenes are superbly shot, with dreamy existential sequences that meet the demands of a more accessible art-festival film, while the more action-packed moments are intense. Iceland is represented here only by a grimy city where a depressing future awaits the children if they cannot assert important values on their own. 80 % (18/07/2022)

A harsh, in many scenes downright unpleasant look into the world of teenage misfits who, through their incredible depravity and cruelty, manage to find the germs of affection and friendship. [KVIFF 2022] (23/07/2022)

A clever collaboration between the Icelandic Ministry of Culture and the Department of Tourism clearly intended to reduce the effects of overtourism to this Nordic island by portraying the suburbs of Reykjavik as the dismalands of Russian housing projects. (13/12/2022)