The Beast (2023) | Rotten Tomatoes

The Beast

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2h 26m

Drama

Romance

Sci-Fi

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The Beast: Trailer 1

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Tomatometer

124 Reviews

68%

Audience Score

50+ Ratings

The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely "erase" their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-era Paris, Louis is a British man who woos her away from a cold husband, then in early 21st Century Los Angeles, he is a disturbed American bent on delivering violent "retribution." Will the process allow Gabrielle to fully connect with Louis in the present, or are the two doomed to repeat their previous fates? Visually audacious director Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent, Nocturama) fashions his most accomplished film to date: a sci-fi epic, inspired by Henry James' turn-of-the-century novella, suffused with mounting dread and a haunting sense of mystery. Punctuated by a career-defining, three-role performance by Seydoux, The Beast poignantly conveys humanity's struggle against dissociative identity and emotionless existence.

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Critics Consensus

Unwieldy but rewarding, The Beast uses its sci-fi conceit to explore intriguing themes in largely satisfying fashion.

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Mark Kermode

Kermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube)

Against any rhyme or reason, it works.

Jun 5, 2024

Full Review

Wendy Ide

Guardian

The Beast won’t be for everyone, but submit to its looping structure and beguiling dream logic, and this extremely loose adaptation of a novella by Henry James weaves a bewitching, if a trifle head-swimming spell.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 4, 2024

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Maddy Mussen

London Evening Standard

Like a painting, The Beast is best seen once, pondered and then left as a memory.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 3, 2024

Full Review

Katherine McLaughlin

SciFiNow

The Beast is compelling science fiction that taps into modern concerns about AI and how it is altering our relationships with art and one another. If you had the choice to remove fear but it meant you would also lose love, what would you do?

Rated: 4/5

Jun 6, 2024

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Eilidh Akilade

The Skinny

A romance for an uncertain future, The Beast holds love and loss as one.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 6, 2024

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Cris Kennedy

Inner East Review

Parts of it aren't great, most of it is terrific, but now that I'm home from the cinema and thinking about it, I feel like it's burning a hole in my mind, like the acid blood from the film Alien.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 4, 2024

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Kelvin G

This was very well acted and shot well, but the story was just meh. There was entirely too much dialogue. The end was somewhat abrupt too.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/24/24

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Will

A very strange movie that uses a sci-fi framework to examine difficulties people face in forming connections and sustaining relationships very ambitious and not totally successful, it benefits from a strong lead in Lea Seydoux and sharp direction. Still, it bites off more than it can chew thematically.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

04/21/24

Full Review

Remy

Strange movie but made me think and was entertaining

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/23/24

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Dotan

First half was very boring and then the rest mad 0 sense

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/12/24

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Rob W

A mess that left me with a headache. A sad pastiche of Eternal Sunshine lacking the wit, charm and clever narrative. Dreary 2 1/2 hours, I wanted to impale myself by the end. Such a pity as both leads try, and they have the chops to pull some bits off but the whole is just incoherent and pretentious. Give me the emotion/memory erasure that is referenced so I can recover from tis shambles.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/03/24

Full Review

Joshua T

a certified h00d banger, heady g00dness

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/01/24

Full Review

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Bertrand Bonello

Director

Léa Seydoux

Gabrielle

George MacKay

Louis

Guslagie Malanda

Poupée Kelly

Dasha

Dakota

Elina Löwensohn

la voyante

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The Beast: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely "erase" their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-era Paris, Louis is a British man who woos her away from a cold husband, then in early 21st Century Los Angeles, he is a disturbed American bent on delivering violent "retribution." Will the process allow Gabrielle to fully connect with Louis in the present, or are the two doomed to repeat their previous fates? Visually audacious director Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent, Nocturama) fashions his most accomplished film to date: a sci-fi epic, inspired by Henry James' turn-of-the-century novella, suffused with mounting dread and a haunting sense of mystery. Punctuated by a career-defining, three-role performance by Seydoux, The Beast poignantly conveys humanity's struggle against dissociative identity and emotionless existence.

Director: Bertrand Bonello
Producer: Justin Taurand, Bertrand Bonello, Xavier Dolan, Nancy Grant
Screenwriter: Bertrand Bonello, Bertrand Bonello, Guillaume Bréaud, Benjamin Charbit
Distributor: Sideshow / Janus Films
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Original Language: French
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 5, 2024, Limited
Box Office (Gross USA): $400.1K
Runtime: 2h 26m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)