Beast Review — A Stylish Creature-Feature That Shakes Up the Formula

It’s been quite some time since we’ve seen a memorable wild animal movie, with the likes of Deep Blue Sea, Anaconda, and Ghost and the Darkness still standing out as some of the best. With that said, Beast delivers a man vs. lion experience unlike anything else, while also providing some sympathetic social commentary on the enraged creature, which could very well be seen as a new cult classic in the genre.

The thing about Beast that sets it apart is its slow and steady nature and ability to create tension. Whereas many other ‘monster’ or creature movies rely heavily on exposing every nook and cranny of the threat, Beast does a fantastic job at letting you know the lion is there, but always lurking in the background, rather than leaping onto the screen. This slow-burn nature, more akin to Jaws than anything else, is excellently conveyed in the film’s cinematography. The overreliance on CGI would’ve done the lion an injustice (we know what lions are supposed to look like), but showing the beast creeping in the background of some brilliant long-shots is genius.

Director Baltasar Kormákur uses well-choreographed scenes comprised of longer, single-shot sequences to build tension, cleverly depositing the lion in the background or in the scenery to create a level of uneasiness throughout every minute of the movie. It perfectly illustrates the ‘less is more’ approach to movies like this, and further reiterates the real-life strategy of lions: stalking their prey before going in for the kill.

With that said, when the lion does get in front of the camera, it looks surprisingly good, and the way in which the characters interact with it has to be commended. This is often where these movies fall apart, but Beast accurately conveys the brutality and ferocity of what a lion can do and gets all the nuances and body language idiosyncrasies of lions down to a tee.

Of course, the lion itself is a huge drawcard, but the cast of Idris Elba, Sharlto Copley, and young actresses Leah Jeffries and Iyana Halley (playing Elba’s daughters) are all excellent and colourful, providing different tones and insights into the journey they endure. Elba is his usual charming self, but effectively shows another side of his character, being a desperate father trying to do right by his kids. Jefferies and Halley have to be praised for their performances, effectively selling the fear and physical turmoil of being hunted by an apex predator. And of course, Copley is as endearing and relatable as ever playing a childhood friend and now-anti-poaching ranger.

And while Beast is an edge-of-your-seat popcorn movie, it does deliver some important commentary on the state of the wildlife ‘war’ in Southern Africa, along with the parallels of protecting one’s family, which is something any African beast or human has in common.