Beast movie review - Aussieboyreviews

IS BEAST FULL OF TERRIFYING ANIMAL ATTACK SEQUENCES?

Although not reaching the standards to being terrifying, Beast is definitely bloody and very intense, although predictable. If you can’t stand a lack of new or bright ideas in horror movies, this one is not for you.

Storyline

A widowed father and his two daughters must fight for survival in the South African game reserve when they find themselves being hunted by a vicious, man-eating lion.

Movie Images

Movie details

Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Cast: Idris Elba, Iyana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries, Sharlto Copley
Writer: Ryan Engle
Release Date (Australia): 25 August 2022
Runtime: 93 minutes/1h 33m
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Language: English

CONTENT GUIDE (warning: May contain spoilers)

Themes (MA15+)

The film features sequences of sustained strong peril and threat, as a group of people are hunted and attacked by a lion. The film also contains a depiction of a man performing a surgical procedure on himself.

Violence (MA15+)

The film features depictions of mutilated corpses and people being attacked by lions, as well as strong depictions of flesh and injury detail with a large amount of blood detail.

Coarse Language (PG)

The film features infrequent use of the words “s**t”, “son of a bitch”, “damn” and “hell”.

mpaa rating

R (for violent content, bloody images and some language)

Aussie boy's thoughts

This simple, yet very intense and entertaining horror movie draft sets Idris Elba as a father with two daughters against a man-eating lion in a South African game reserve. From beginning to end, and even at the title card during the ending credits, Beast is an adventurous yet extremely uncomplicated horror-thriller with as much bloody injuries as you’d expect and sustained menace from the terrifying creature. Disappointingly, it’s another cinema-release without any new ideas, but if you can acknowledge that and handle the overused elements, it’s actually very enjoyable.

As said, Idris Elba plays a widowed father who travels to a game reserve in South Africa with his two teenage/pre-teen daughters, where they find themselves fighting for survival when a vicious lion starts hunting them down. This is another horror-thriller movie with tons of jump-scares, lots of blood and full-on tension, which rolls in during the second act and provides a popcorn-fun cinema experience. Do you ever feel like just seeing a movie that’s so stupid, dumb and unoriginal that it’s actually good fun? Because Beast is one of them.

The best thing about the film is the often predictable but still very entertaining tension throughout. It kind of feels like a concept that was designed by first-time filmmakers, which makes it clichéd but also somewhat credible. The whole time you’re sitting in your seat, you’re just anticipating another terrifying lion attack sequence, as the film opens with a nighttime sequence that depicts a trapped person’s point of view where the lion terrifyingly jumps at the screen.

Every lion sequence is credible, despite using very loud music and sound effects for tension and being so simply designed. The dialogue and acting isn’t too bad, it gives hope for everyone involved for the future. The unnecessary and overused drama side comes it when the film focuses on death and grief, and the characters talk about their lost mother/wife and it all just becomes an argument. These kinds of movies always have an expected sub-theme like that, but if you can accept all of the clichés, Beast is a fun time with popcorn at the cinema and doesn’t deserve to be bashed on.

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