Behemoth

Play trailer

Behemoth

Released Jan 27, 2017

1h 35m

Documentary

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

96%

Tomatometer

25 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

The ravages wrought upon inner Mongolia by its coal and iron industries.

Richard Brody

New Yorker

The film seems to shudder with the destructive power of invisible, ubiquitous, and cruelly indifferent authority.

Aug 27, 2018

Full Review

Jay Weissberg

Variety

Despite such over-arty flourishes, the lensing never fails to drive home a sense of paradise lost, furthered by images with digitally created fractured lines, which represent the disruption of nature's gift.

Nov 20, 2017

Full Review

David Rooney

Hollywood Reporter

The subtle impact of this contemplative documentary can't be denied.

Nov 20, 2017

Full Review

Elissa Suh

MUBI

The obvious beauty of these images is bittersweet; we are gazing after all at what is now scorched earth, tilled by machinery and toiled over by humans, impoverished and exploited...

Feb 27, 2020

Full Review

Danielle Wu

Hyperallergic

Given the reality of globalized capitalism and white supremacy, the ongoing trauma to humanity, like the kind in Behemoth, is in truth neither beautiful nor entertaining.

Feb 5, 2020

Full Review

Robert Roten

Laramie Movie Scope

This documentary film about coal mining, coal miners and ghost cities in China is a hybrid, more art film than documentary, providing few statistics, but it tells a compelling story of hell on earth through images and music.

Rated: B

Dec 13, 2017

Full Review

Read all reviews

Liam D

An Hallowing Documentary that goes into mining in Mongolia that's interesting and disturbing

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/07/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Absolutely stunning cinematography. However, content feeds the white / colonizer's gaze... self-orientalising director who knows what would work well with a predominantly western audience.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Brave and beautiful film about the coal and iron industries in China. It's brave as it's showing how it damages the nature and landscape and it's beautiful since it's shot so near and uncut. Lovely colors, great clouseups of faces and resorces. It's a documentary - a silent one. Few words are uttered and when there are some, the picture often pauses with some cool cutting imagery effect, like a rotated and mirrored puzzle with a fetus positioned nude dude lying around. A technical treat and a stab in the guts for enviormental hearts. It's horrible in a way, but it's mastering the art of being informative and meditative at the same time. Silent and slow, dirty but crisp. Somehow hypnotizing, mysterious. It got some Mongolian throat singing, other scenes are filled with industry noise. It's art made to observe and digest, still it's just the harsh reality and the daily life of thousands of workers. 8.5 out of 10 drops of sweat.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A meditative look at the cost of industrialisation in a condensed timeline and the people it leaves behind.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

n a

A visually stunning piece about mankind's never ending scaring of planet earth, however the lack of dialogue and directorial style make it a patience-testing watch at times!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I enjoyed this film primarily for the sublimity and enormity of the images, and the eeriness of the tall empty city, the hidden observer nature of the setting

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Liang Zhao

Director

Sylvie Blum

Writer

Zhao Liang

Writer

Sylvie Blum

Producer

Liang Zhao

Cinematographer

Fabrice Rouaud

Film Editing

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Blood on the Mountain

90%

60%

Blood on the Mountain

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Blood on the Mountain

The Confession

100%

100%

The Confession

Watchlist

Fresh Dressed

92%

55%

Fresh Dressed

Watchlist

The Messenger

83%

62%

The Messenger

Watchlist

Company Town

88%

%

Company Town

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Will Please Fans but Few Others

View more photos

Synopsis

The ravages wrought upon inner Mongolia by its coal and iron industries.

Director: Liang Zhao
Producer: Sylvie Blum
Screenwriter: Sylvie Blum, Zhao Liang
Distributor: Grasshopper Film
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Chinese
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 27, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 2, 2017
Runtime: 1h 35m

Most Popular at Home Now