Too Many Beasts, a French crime comedy directed by Sarah Arnold, is her debut feature and won the Europa Cinemas Prize after premiering in Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
Now, the European exhibition network Europa Cinemas supports this movie and, with additional promotion, extends the film’s run on screen.
Set in northeastern France, Police officer Fulda and therapist Stéphane investigate a mysterious case from the previous year, as wild boars ravage local crops and a grain farmer on the brink of financial ruin suffers a breakdown before suddenly disappearing.
Before Too Many Beasts, Sarah Arnold gained recognition with several acclaimed short films: Leçon de ténèbres (2010) won the Jury Award at the Turin Film Festival, Totems (2014) received the Pardino d’Oro at the Locarno Film Festival, and the French comedy Store Policy (2020) won the France TV Award.
The film stars Alexis Manenti as Sergeant Fulda Orsini, Ella Rumpf as Stéphane Danjir, Vincent Dedienne as Victor Chaton, Jean-Louis Coulloc’h as Raoul Brun, Pascal Rénéric as Alain, Bertrand Belin as Marchal, Jade Fiess as Lara, Bernard Blancan as La Tige, and Thierry Godard as Brochier.
The screenplay is by Sarah Arnold and Jérémie Dubois, with collaborations from Mehdi Ben Attia and Olivier Séror.
The jury commented: “Too Many Beasts is a really fresh and original début feature. It is a real genre bender, encompassing action, romance, thriller, comedy, police procedural, and even some romance.
The jury also noted ”A big part of its appeal is how the accessible plot consistently takes the audience in totally unexpected directions – and the last fifteen minutes is a delicious and crazy psychedelic fueled roller coaster. It is also a very human film – subtle and not didactic in any way, but it does look at corruption and how communities can come together to find solutions. Many congratulations to Sarah Arnold and her team. We all loved it, and we feel confident that audiences around Europe will too.”
International sales are handled by Playtime, while Too Many Beasts comes from 5À7 Films in co‑production with France 3 Cinéma and Playtime.
