“Respect for the vanquished”, remarks Steve, “is what separates man from beast.” As a champion in Swiss-style wrestling, Steve knows a thing or two about observing codes of combat. But when his family farm faces repossession, he is forced to join hands with his ex-convict brother Joel and enter the lucrative, clandestine world of no-rules fighting. 

Pierre Monnard’s smouldering sports drama Bisons charts Steve’s Dantesque descent from the gentlemanly milieu of professional wrestling into a murky universe of bare-knuckle brawls and rage-in-a-cage tournaments. Through kinetically filmed fight sequences and quieter moments of thoughtful dignity, we observe Steve’s struggle to maintain his conscience and sense of fair play, even when his environment is intent on bringing out the beast within.  

However the film’s emphasis is equally on the sibling dynamic, a relationship deeply shaped by the brothers’ complicated relationship to their parents. Monnard observes the tension and camaraderie between the men with a precise eye for gesture and ritual. Alternating warmly rustic interiors and operatic, snow-covered vistas, Bisons delivers a richly-textured family saga that fuses classical dramaturgy with a profound feeling for a particular place and culture.

– Srikanth Srinivasan