English Beasts

The North American gold-rush of the 1860s is catnip to filmmakers due to lawlessness, anarchy and a free-for-all scramble for power and riches that lends itself to tales of morality and betrayal. English Beasts is a more unconventional take on the period, a haunting and eery short that contemplates the nature of man over money.

Deep in the Canadian wilderness in 1862, two Englishmen have committed to a quest to find the fabled Cariboo gold fields. But rather than a Road to El Dorado, they are pushed to their limits by an unforgiving mountain tundra that stands in their way of glory. As nature holds its ground, ruthless and ambitious Arthur (Paul Dewdney) begins to turn on his partner Thomas (Edmund Fargher) as man’s own nature emerges.

Atmospheric short thriller English Beasts identifies a darkness in the soul of its protagonists and summons it with a combination of a classic desire for power and the brutality of nature. Director Nikolas Harris has a great sense of the atmosphere he wants to conjure, and crafts this by reducing the film’s vibrant light to the bare minimum – isolating his subjects and freezing both them and the viewer to the core with an overlay of fog effects on the screen. Filmed in Snowdonia, it is impressive how unearthly the film feels – the landscape of the mountain transformed into borderline-alien terrain that conspires against its inhabitants. The idea that these men could go crazy seems less like a possibility, and more like an inevitability.

The characters make for an intriguing pair of co-leads, with enough mystery surrounding them to leave viewers intrigued as to how their natures have been formed. Paul Dewdney’s Arthur’s turn won’t come as an enormous surprise given his ruthless disposition from the outset, and Edmund Fargher’s Thomas feels like an inevitable foil given the wisdom he seems to possess that flies in the face of Arthur’s ambition. The pair’s journey throughout the film doesn’t take the predictable path, and the tension that begins to grow on the mountain allows Dewdney and Fargher to explore their characters visceral nature in opposition to one another. However, given that the story told is one that has been explored on screen before in films like The Grey, the conclusion feels a little underwhelming and leaves some of the film’s themes incomplete.

English Beasts is a visual spectacle that brilliantly recognises man’s helplessness against nature. You’d be forgiven for believing that Nikolas Harris had managed to open a portal to the 1860s and shoot his short in the year itself such is the authenticity, and given the smaller budget (and requirement for Wales to stand in for the majestic Canadian wilderness) it is a really impressive triumph. The story and exploration of ambition and greed is strong if a little imitative, but audiences will embrace the ambience and atmosphere. The filmmakers mention that this film is both its own story as well as a blueprint for their next feature, and if they can capture the same magical combination of atmosphere and theme, it will share in English Beasts’ success.