A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Beast” (2024).
Original title: La bête
“The Beast” is a mixed French/English language film directed by Bertrand Bonello and starring Léa Seydoux (with very good English) and ‘Gorgeous’ George MacKay (with – more surprisingly – very good French!).
I normally get a pretty good handle on whether I think a film is good or not and whether I’ve enjoyed it or not. With this one, I really struggled… with both questions!
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
It’s 2044. Society is run by AI, with a 67% unemployment rate. Citizens are encouraged to get ‘DNA cleansed’ to rid themselves of excess emotions, emanating from trauma in their current AND their past-lives. Gabrielle Monnier (Léa Seydoux), a woman suffering from a fatalistic fear, is undergoing such a treatment. As she experiences her past lives, one man – Louis Lewanski (George MacKay) – is an ever-present figure.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: NR (but would undoutedly be an ‘R’). (From the BBFC web site: “Threat, strong sex references, language, drug misuse, bloody images”.)
Talent:
Starring: Léa Seydoux, George MacKay, Guslagie Malanda, Dasha Nekrasova, Elina Löwensohn.
Directed by: Bertrand Bonello.
Written by: Bertrand Bonello, Guillaume Bréaud & Benjamin Charbit. (Based – loosely! – on the short story “The Beast in the Jungle” by Henry James.)
Twitter Handle: #TheBeast.
Running Time: 2h 26m.
“The Beast” Summary:
Positives:
- The acting from the two leads.
- The concept of the film is great – both in terms of the original Henry James story and of setting it against an AI-dominated future.
Negatives:
- The film will just be way too weird for many viewers. This is not mainstream cinema.
- At nearly two and a half hours, it’s a bit of a slog.
- Some triggers in here for animal lovers and stalker victims.
Review of “The Beast”:
Wow!
Blimey Charley! What an acting performance by the two leads and especially from the wonderful Léa Seydoux. The opening scene of her expressing emotions in front of a green screen makes you appreciate how challenging quality acting “to nothing” really is! There is a scene in here where Seydoux mimics the emotionless visage of a china doll… and she delivers such an expression of facial vacancy that it made me audibly gasp. Simply stunning.
George (‘1917‘) MacKay again extends his range and you can see him gradually working his way into the same category of ‘talented young actors’ as the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Scott.
An intriguing story
The story is very loosely based on a 1903 novella by Henry James in which our protagonist, John Marcher, is possessed with the fatalist belief that he is destined to be consumed by a ‘Beast’. The fear dominates his life and stops him from actually properly living – until he realises that the beast that brings him down is his own fear itself. Here, the gender roles are reversed and Gabrielle is the one with the all-consuming fatal vision and Louis is the love that she refuses to allow near her in case the ‘beast’ gets him too.
We see that same dance enacted across three time periods: an Edwardian episode, where Gabrielle is a famous dancer; a contemporary episode where house-sitter Gabrielle is stalked by a terrifying ‘Incel’ and a 2044 episode where Gabrielle is reliving these memories through her black and gooey DNA treatment.
A Terrifying Future
Overlaid on this concept is a terrifying AI-led dystopian future, hinted at very subtly. How much AI is in charge of society is left somewhat veiled. But unemployment is at 67% and AI androids (typified by the voluptuous and sexually inquisitive Poupée Kelly – “poupée” is “doll” in French – played by Guslagie Malanda) refer to humans as “The Useless People”. Only those humans who can suppress their emotions and thus prove themselves highly productive are eligible for the best jobs. Thus, it is desirable to undergo the, AI-driven, “DNA cleansing”. The subtext is that this is a clever way of the AI emasculating what little society is left and consolidating their control over humanity.
Weird with a capital “W”.
So there’s a lot going for this film as a different take on Sci-Fi. But the delivery by Bertrand Bonello is occasionally off-the-scale weird:
- certain scenes are executed over and over again in slightly different varients (reflecting perhaps the imperfect recollections of past lives?);
- an “Evergreen” song keeps popping up in different versions in different time periods; and
- pigeons and dolls (in various forms) play a strong part of the narration.
Following and interpreting the meaning of all this, in the context of the film, becomes an intellectual challenge.
Too Loooooong
One of the reasons the artsy repeating of shots gets irritating is that your bladder is already reaching danger levels. At nearly two and a half hours, the film outstayed it’s welcome for me… not by much, but a bit of reining in would have been appreciated.
Triggers
There are a number of potential triggers in the film:
- One concerns the treatment of a cat, reflecting the emotionless void of “processed” humans in the future. Nothing is seen on screen, but the implication is clear.
- Another concerns the stalking of Gabrielle by Lewanski, who in the contemporary timeframe is a terrifying ‘Incel’ sociopath in LA. Any female victims of such crime will find this triggering.
Monkeys
The end title is worthy of comment. There is no endless scrolling of names. Instead, a QR code is shown with the word “Générique” (credits) that you are encouraged to scan. For those too slow to scan it, here it is below. (You’re welcome!)
You will find that it redirects you to the end credits scroll BUT there is also a mid-credit “monkey” that in the context of the film is really good!
(The scene is a bit of a spoiler for the main film, so only watch it is you’ve watched the feature!)
Summary Thoughts on “The Beast”
I must admit, I’ve done something I normally don’t do and listened to Mark Kermode’s review of the film to try to settle my mind before writing this. To summarise his views, Mark thought it “really shouldn’t work but it does”. And I think I am agreeing with him. I toyed with giving this a 3, a 3 1/2 or a 4 star rating: in the end, I’ve given it the benefit of the doubt as I think it IS brilliant. But I need to see it again to better appreciate it.
It’s not going to make my list of favourite films of the year, But it undeniably has a certain je ne sais quoi that should demand the attention of cinephiles.
Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)
Trailer for “The Beast”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5KsjVf8YdU :
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