Beast (2022)

By: Mike Ward on Thursday, August 18

R Running Time: 93 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • If you want to escape into a thriller that has enough intensity to cause you to grip your arm rest a little bit tight, Beast is the late-summer movie for you.

  • Yes, this is the movie where Idris Elba punches a (CGI) lion.

  • Draws you in with solid cinematography, good performances, and a rapid-enough pace that director Baltasar Kormákur will likely exceed your expectations.

NO

  • Even if much of the imagery is CGI, those with a sensitivity to animals in peril might want to consider whether Beast is the right movie for them.

  • Packs little to no surprises and a fair amount of the emotional, family-focused melodrama is the film’s weakest element.

  • The lack of a layered plot works against it, when you perhaps want something more than Idris Elba punching a (CGI) lion.


OUR REVIEW

It’s not a spoiler to tell you that Idris Elba punches a massive, blood-thirsty lion in Beast. Like straight up cracks him right in the jaw. And, admittedly, it’s kind of an awesome visual (helped by the fact that the lion in question is a CGI creation). Moments later, things take a significant turn, but we’ll save the rest of their encounter for viewers to experience on their own.

Under the direction of Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, 2 Guns), Elba finds himself immersed in this constricting suspense/thriller, a taut, lean story that absolutely delivers thrills and intensity in a film far more entertaining than it probably has any right to be. 

Elba portrays Dr. Nate Samuels, single dad to teenage daughters Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries) and Meredith (Iyana Halley). Together, they are en route to visit Nate’s best friend, lovingly referred to as “Uncle Martin” (Sharlto Copley), and return to the village in South Africa where Nate met his late wife, Amahle (Naledi Mogadime). In an effort to reconnect his children to their parental roots, Nate is also seeking to repair frayed connections between himself and his daughters.

If the family tensions play a bit iffy from an effectiveness standpoint, the action and adventure we experience is more than worth the price of admission. As Nate and Martin reconnect over lost time, Martin soon discovers that poachers have decimated a nearby community, and many of its animals - animals that Martin checks on and cares for - have been slaughtered. In turn, this leads to a fateful confrontation with a monstrous lion, whose motivations may be more deep-seeded than that of a raging beastie with murderous intent.

What Kormákur initially presents as a vast, rolling, safari becomes very small and constrained as the film progresses. Largely, this is because of screenwriter Ryan Engle’s attempts to make this a tense film in two distinctive ways: an effective family domestic drama, and the more fantastical beast-vs.-man story which occupies much of the second half of the film.

There really isn’t any subtext or deeper meaning behind Beast. A long soliloquy about the evils of poaching and the damage it causes is given a fleeting, passing moment or two. Engle likewise doesn’t script any “there’s a beast in all of us…” kind of rhetoric. This is about as straightforward as a movie can be. Lion is angry. People are in peril. And inevitably these two things will come together.

Though his previous work is a bit all over the map, Kormákur finds moments of great intensity and anxiety in this setting. Oscar-winning cinematographer Philippe Roussellot’s camera captures expansive backdrops and the claustrophobia found when all four find themselves trapped in a crashed-out jeep, unable to free themselves from their proverbial cage. Kormákur also relies on the frequent use of long takes, which not only help immerse us deeper into the moments on screen, but also keeps us captivated and focused on what unpredictable event may come next. In lieu of hyperkinetic editing and whiplash camera swings, deploying a roving, inquisitive eye for viewers heightens the tension and allows us to become invested in the uncertainty enveloping our main characters.

Logically, not everything in Beast makes sense. Decisions made by a headstrong Nate seem counterintuitive to sensible reactions and yet Engle somewhat balances this by having his very wise daughters serve as his check-and-balance on things. Jeffries and Halley are really the standout.

Let’s be clear though…at the end of the day, we are all here, in the theater or watching at home, for one reason: We want that lion. We want to see Idris Elba square off with that lion. We want the spectacle.

For a decent budget, the visual effects work on the lion and other CGI creatures are rather effective. Kormákur hides a fair amount of the activity at night, which undoubtedly saves some visual effects dollars. Yet, Beast is never idle, seldom boring. As a piece of escapism, this B-movie-inspired action/adventure film, which appropriately uses jump scares and terrific sound design to keep us unsettled, works and works well. People will be entertained. And when Elba has that moment standing toe-to-paw with his large cat nemesis, you end up getting everything you wanted and more.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Idris Elba, Leah Sava Jeffries, Iyana Halley, Sharlto Copley, Tafara Nyatsanza, Naledi Mogadime, Martin Munro

Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Written by: Ryan Engle (screenplay); Jaime Primak Sullivan (story)
Release Date: August 19, 2022
Universal Pictures