Stream It or Skip It?

How can one movie contain a tortured period romance, a creepy incel stalker, and a menacing AI overlord? Such is the unexpected journey of French director Bertrand Bonello’s label-resistant film The Beast (now streaming on Criterion Channel). It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen, which makes it a difficult experience to describe even as it’s dazzling to watch unfold. Each minute brings with it the suspense that what might follow will catch you off-guard. It’s effortfully exhilarating.

THE BEAST: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: It’s 1910, Paris. Gabrielle Monnier (Léa Seydoux), a woman of Belle Epoque high society, feels trapped inside a loveless marriage. A charming gentleman Louis (George MacKay) catches her eye, and the possibilities for freedom and love present themselves in a possible romance. Yet she’s scared of the consequences, leading to paralysis that puts both of them on the precipice of danger…

It’s 2014, Los Angeles. These would-be lovers meet again, only the fear resides primarily with Louis. As a mouthpiece for the words of misogynistic mass shooter Elliot Rodger, this webcasting incel fears receiving love more than giving it. When his path crosses with Gabrielle, now trying to make it as a model in the shadow of Hollywood, they’re brought to another inflection point. But where she brings vulnerability, he meets her with the potential of violence…

It’s 2044, back in a Paris with all the architecture of the City of Light but none of its soul. The stars seem to have aligned for these star-crossed lovers, though, as Gabrielle and Paul finally have an opportunity to be together. To do so requires them to undergo a process of DNA “purification” to rid themselves of emotion to be more productive workers in a society run almost entirely by AI. The procedure requires them to revisit their past lives, reawakening feelings for Gabrielle at the very moment she needs to shut them down.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The Beast has the doomed romance vibes of Vanilla Sky or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but is soaked in Lynchian surrealism and suspense.

Performance Worth Watching: George MacKay is doing some extraordinary work here, especially channeling the slipperiness of an incel you know just needs a big hug, but this is the Léa Seydoux show. From her masterclass in green-screen acting in the prologue to her blood-curdling scream that ends the film, The Beast showcases the full depth of her range and creativity as a performer. 

Memorable Dialogue: “Can you get scared by something that’s not actually here?” a director asks Gabrielle on set. He’s speaking more practically about her ability to react to an off-screen force that will be added in digitally, but the question also resonates along the philosophical dimensions The Beast explores. Is it possible to manifest fear of something that we can only feel, not see, such as love and intimacy? 

Sex and Skin: The Beast is about a frustrated, not a consummated, love, so the characters never engage in sexual expression. It only peeks up in glimpses on a screen in the 2014 timeline; the true sickos will recognize footage from Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers making an extended appearance.

Our Take: It’s tempting to apply a hyper-contemporary gaze to The Beast and read it first and foremost as an eerily timely warning against the perils of AI sanitizing the passion out of life. But it’s deeper than a mere technocratic dystopia tale. Bertrand Bonello does not want you to “solve” the enticing ambiguities of his movie, for to do so would mean somehow coming to an answer about the forces of fear and love that have tantalized humans across the ages. But this immersive, expansive work elicits the kind of engagement needed to untangle its knotty, genre-defying mysteries. As it traces Gabrielle and Louis across time, The Beast is part drama, part romance, part thriller, part sci-fi, and wholly unique. 

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Beast may seem imposing as it resists easy interpretation and simple categorization. But it’s the kind of movie whose inscrutability will draw you in rather than push you away if you allow yourself to dwell in its ambiguities and uncertainties. Bertrand Bonello’s film proves as richly complicated and compelling as the forces of feeling it seeks to depict.

Marshall Shaffer is a New York-based freelance film journalist. In addition to Decider, his work has also appeared on Slashfilm, Slant, The Playlist and many other outlets. Some day soon, everyone will realize how right he is about Spring Breakers.

Watch The Beast on Criterion Channel