Hailed by critics as “grippingly offbeat,” “as extravagant as it irresistible” and “impactful and very funny,” French director Sarah Arnold’s Too Many Beasts” (“L’Espèce explosive”) has scooped this year’s Europa Cinemas Label for best European film at the 2026 Cannes Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight.
One of three Directors’ Fortnight prizes set to be announced May 21, the Label, adjudicated by a jury of four European exhibition executives, ensures the film Europa Cinemas’ backing in the form of additional promotion and incentives for exhibitors to extend the film’s run on screen.
Produced by France’s 5 à 7 Films and sold by Playtime, “Too Many Beasts” stars Alexis Manenti (“Les Misérables”) as Fulda, a disgraced Corsican cop transferred to France’s Northeast where a war between farmers and hunters is spiralling out of control. Investigating the disappearance of a farmer who has taken justice in his own hands, Fulda establishes a growing report with Stéphane, played by Ella Rumpf (“Raw”), the equally offbeat station’s psychologist, as the film spirals towards a comedy-thriller.
“A noir thriller, a detective comedy, a small-town mystery, and an eccentric blend of all three: ‘Too Many Beasts’ is a genuine surprise – a strange, delightful French film that grows stranger and more delirious with every passing minute,” wrote critic Diego Lerer.
“’Too Many Beasts’ is a really fresh and original debut feature. It is a real genre bender, encompassing action, romance, thriller, comedy, police procedural and even some romance,” said the jury of this year’s Europa Cinemas Label, made up of Panos Achtsioglou (Olympion Cinema, Thessaloniki), Octavian Dăncilă (Cinema Victoria, Cluj Napoca, Romania); Alicia Hernanz (Lucernaire, Paris) and Māris Prombergs (Kino Bize, Riga, Latvia).
Though “Too Many Beasts” is Arnold’s first feature, she has had a multi-prized short film career. Her first, 2010’s “Leçon de ténèbres” won the Turin Film Festival’s Jury Award. 2014’s “Totems” took a Locarno best short film Golden Leopard; “Store Policy” won the France TV Award at the 2021 Clermont-Ferrand Festival.
Produced by Helen Olive and Martin Bertier “Too Many Beasts” is written by Arnold with Jérémie Dubois, Olivier Seror, Romain Winkler, and Mehdi Ben Attia.
The film is co-produced by France 3 Cinéma and Playtime, in association with Pan Distribution, Ubik&Co, Cinemage 20, Cofinova 22, Sansofica, France’s CNC National Film Board, Procirep-Angoa and La Sacem de la Région Grand Est, in partnership with the CNC.
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