The Beast is one of the strangest movies I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of strange films. I was attracted to it based on the cast of Lea Seydoux and George MacKay. They were a draw for me, but the story as a whole was a bit weird and out there. It’s a film that takes place mostly in the near future, but for a chunk of it, it takes place in the present. I just can’t figure out what I watched but I still have thoughts on it anyway.

Gabrielle (Lea Seydoux) is a classical pianist. She’s happily married to Tom (Kester Lovelace) While at a party rubbing elbows with dignitaries and celebrities she meets a man named Louis (George MacKay) They hit it off and become friends. The problem is one of them isn’t real and the other one can’t get enough of the one that isn’t real. This causes some issues for the one who is truly alive. 

This film has a thing about it that makes it strange like I said earlier. There is an operating system that creates a protocol for people to enter into and go wherever and whenever they choose. The Seydoux character can be in Paris in the 1700s or the future of 2044. It all depends on what is in her mind that day. Most of the time she hangs out with MacKay’s character. They get to know each other during these times.

Seydouz’s character has various things going on with her. She meets Kelly (Guslagie Malanda) who is part of the protocol and she gets advice from her. In the real virtual world, she and her husband own and operate a doll manufacturing company. This plays into why the film has a modern-day aesthetic in the second half. There is a lot going on that is confusing. You definitely have to pay attention to everything going on that’s for sure.

The fact that this film is spoken mostly in French with English subtitles doesn’t help it. There is a loss of translation from French to the subtitles. Even though they sometimes speak English it’s still hard to understand what this movie is all about. When it gets to the third act it’s easier, but there are still questions on what exactly happened to get to this point in the film. As I mentioned, it’s very strange.

A few of the things I liked about this movie were set in a nightclub where the characters go to dance, but each time they go there there is a different aesthetic regarding the years that the club is celebrating that night. 60s, 80s, 80s, or the near future were all represented in the club. The music, makeup &  hairstyling,  and costumes all represented the various decades. The club had a sign that changed every time the characters went to it so you knew which decade it was that specific night. 

The modern-day portion of the film was the most informative part. I learned more about the two main characters and their lives. Through a series of events they end up meeting once again and the true nature of their relationship is finally revealed. One of them isn’t a nice person at all. The other has to fend off advances and threatening behavior. This movie has a weird way of talking about a specific thing that it deals with. I don’t know if it totally worked for me in the context that it is shown. 

The Beast has a weird and strange way of telling a pretty straightforward story. Using a virtual reality world wouldn’t be the exact way I would tell this story but I’m not the writer or director. I can see why Seydoux and MacKay were drawn to this film. I just can’t see how anybody else would be. It meanders around the virtual landscape showing all the different time periods with the makeup & hairstyling and costumes to match. The third act is where the audience finally learns the true nature of the story. It just didn’t need to be two and one-half hours long. It took too long to get to the point of what this movie wanted to say. For me, that’s a no-no.

April 15th at 7 pm at the Downer Theater

2 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen