The year is 2044, and Gabrielle (former Bond girl Léa Seydoux) has a choice to make: will she agree to undergo a surgical procedure to purge her negative emotions in order to get a better job in a world dominated by artificial intelligence?
That’s the jumping off point for The Beast, a mind-scrambling, century-spanning sci-fi which you’ll either think is maddeningly self-indulgent or one of the most unique films to hit cinemas in months.
You’ll need to have your wits about you, as the film flits between French and English as well as three different timelines: Paris 1910, Los Angeles 2014, and Paris 2044.
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Plus there’s several cryptic warnings from fortune tellers to grapple with. In this movie, a pigeon is never just a pigeon.
The 2044 segment is terrifying and imaginatively realized: in-person human connection is more or less a thing of the past and our AI overlords have decided we can’t be trusted in intellectually-stimulating jobs as we’re too driven by emotions.
Gabrielle is told she must rid herself of the trauma from her past lives in order to become a better worker - just go with it - which takes us back to 1910.
Here we find an earlier version of Gabrielle - this time a concert pianist married to a high-powered factory owner - considering an affair with handsome loner Louis (1917's George MacKay, who learnt French specifically for this role). These two, we learn, are drawn to each other throughout the ages.
The 1910 segment has great costumes, nuanced performances and some fabulous set pieces, but ultimately feels slight and unfulfilling.
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Much better is the 2014 sequence, where we find Gabrielle (this time a house-sitter/actor/model), stalked by Louis, a delusional incel.
The Beast does incels a lot better than 2022’s infamous Don’t Worry Darling. Rather than making Louis a slimy, basement-dwelling loner, he’s a regular guy so warped by hatred, fear and 4chan forums he’s completely incapable of communicating with women. His character is played for laughs at first, but there’s no doubt he’s incredibly dangerous.
As in every timeline, Gabrielle feels a pull towards Louis, who rejects her attempts to forge a connection… until he pays a house call with a gun concealed in the waistband of his jeans.
Your mileage for all of this may vary - the 2014 section is stylized with surreal sequences and computer glitching effects which arguably diminish from the nail-biting drama at hand.
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And when the film finally wraps up back in 2044, it took me a good hour after leaving the cinema to work out what exactly happened.
It’s the kind of movie ripe for picking apart in podcasts and ‘ending explained’ YouTube videos. The two historical timelines show Gabrielle and Louis burning their lives down out of fear, obsession, love and insecurity. If this is where our neuroses and turbulent emotional lives take us, maybe we should sign up to have our feelings surgically removed?
You’ll be left stroking your chin rather than on the edge of your seat, but if you dial into the film’s particular frequency, it has some fascinating things to say.
★★★★☆
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Film and TV, Review
Simon Fearn