Generally speaking, I try to follow the instruction of my 11th grade English teacher and open each review with an attention getting line encapsulating the core tenant of the film I’m reviewing. This time, however, I’m stuck in analysis paralysis, you see The Beast a new sci-fi film by Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent, Nocturama), and starring Lea Seydoux and George MacKay, carries with it more then a handful of core lessons one could glean from the contents of its runtime. After going over it again and again I’ve come to the conclusion that The Beast is almost a “choose your own adventure” of central themes with the viewers own experience and preference coming heavily into play.
The film is a loose adaptation of a 1903 novella by Henry James called “The Beast in the Jungle”. While I haven’t read the book, a quick review of it’s Wikipedia summary reveals that loose adaptation may be generous as Bonello’s version bares very little resemblance to the source material. The story originates in 2044, the world has changed immensely with AI making it so that people no longer have to work. One application of the AI technology is a procedure which allows people to relive past lives and essentially delete experiences, good or bad, that are hardcoded in their DNA. That alone is an interesting enough plot line for an entire film, but Bonello takes it a number of steps further. Our protagonists Gabrielle (Leá Seydoux) and Louis (George MacKay), are not just the stars of our time jumps but also star-crossed lovers who seem to continually end up at the middle of some disaster, an inspired choice by Bonello as he chooses real-world events making this foreign future somehow more relatable.
The 1910 segment, which takes place in Paris in the time leading up to “The Great Flood of Paris” (which I knew nothing about, but it’s a pretty interesting Wikipedia read) sees Louis as a debonair Englishman who pulls Gabrielle from her inattentive doll-maker husband. Then, jumping to 2014, Louis makes a personality 180 and is now an incel planning a mass-casualty event ala Elliot Rodger while Gabrielle, still drawn to him despite his obvious anti-social behavior (and likely lack of hygiene) seeks him out. Story-wise, the film shines from its laundry list of possible take-aways. Is it the danger or AI? While it’s not said outright it’s implied that the process of exploring past lives and eliminating trauma is really just a way for the machines to keep us pesky humans more docile. Is it the idea of past lives and generational trauma? Hypothetically speaking, if we have lived before would we carry the scars of that previous existence with us, informing our current lives? While that may sound outlandish it is a theory that has popped up in various cultures around the world numerous times since the dawn of time. Is it the idea of fate? These star-crossed lovers who feel this unexplainable pull to be together despite possible red flags? I’m sure, were I to watch the film again, I’d probably come up with at least one more “central” idea that could be pulled.
Of course, that level of complexity isn’t without it’s drawbacks. The film is a weighty 2hrs and 20 minutes, and viewer beware, this is not a light superhero movie type 2hrs and 20minutes. I used the term dense earlier, and that’s exactly what this is. While the richness of the story and enrapturing visuals make sure you don’t want to leave your seat I would be lying if I said there were no parts of the film that were weighed down by dialogue or seemed to move at a pace envious of a snail’s speed. The saving grace of these downfalls though is in the films performances. I’m certain at this point that Lea Seydoux is the most compatible person on the planet. I have never seen her not exude chemistry with a co-star, and The Beast is no exception. I can’t stress enough how important this is to buying what this film is selling, the whole idea of two people having a magnetic sexual/romantic draw to each other is out the window if those two people aren’t convincing, Seydoux and MacKay are DEFINITELY convincing.
There’s no doubt that The Beast isn’t going to be for everyone. If you dislike weighty films like Cloud Atlas or the uneasy strangeness of something like Mulholland Drive then, most likely, this is not going to be on your watch list. For everyone else? I heartily recommend checking out The Beast, just be warned you may, as I did, leave the film with an indecipherable feeling of unease brought on by the beautiful, yet dystopian, future depicted as the likelihood of this films future becoming ours is low…but not 0.
