The Beast (La Bête) – A Wholly Unique Human Odyssey

In the year 2044, artificial intelligence has saved humanity from a doomsday event and now helps keep the world afloat. Emotions are seen as a liability and inhibitor to progress which has led to the creation of a “purification” program, where humans can sign up to get their DNA purified by reliving the past traumas of their descendants and erasing them from their generational memories. In essence, unburdening them from their emotions which is a prerequisite for higher forms of employment under this new regime. The Beast follows Gabrielle (Seydoux) as she embarks on this process, reliving memories across 3 different time periods and locations. Along the way, her journey is intertwined with that of Louis (McKay) a mysterious young man with a role to play in Gabrielle’s past and present lives. Each distinct story tied together by recurring characters, symbols, motifs and ideas in a cyclical exploration of time and space, not dissimilar to that of the Wachowski Sisters’ Cloud Atlas. Bertrand Bonello’s sci-fi epic is at once romantic, deliriously surreal, and existentially horrifying, sometimes all at the same time and the closest piece of media to somewhat recreate the sense of mood and atmosphere of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return. Said comparisons should help contextualize the scope and style of this project somewhat, but ultimately, there are not many films out there quite like The Beast.

Inspired by Henry James’ novella, “The Beast in the Jungle”, a story of longing and the crippling fear of something that could go wrong depriving one of ever opening up and damning one’s self to the lonely existence they’ve cautiously worked so hard to avoid. The beast in the jungle waiting to pounce as a metaphoric representation of the fear that closes us off from others. Using James’ essential themes and concepts, Bonello weaves them across various settings beginning in 1910 during the Great Flood of Paris where Gabrielle, runs into Louis at a party where he reminds her of the secret she had confided in him years ago, her omnipresent fear of some “beast” that will foretell doom for any possible romance between them. Having suppressed her “beast” she’s now unhappily married and begins to see Louis again in a will they won’t they affair. Jumping back to modern day France in 2044, Gabrielle is just a lowly citizen barely making ends meet since all well paying work is now withheld exclusively for those who have taken the DNA purification procedure, removing them of any and all emotions that could impede optimal work performance.

For the procedure to work, Gabrielle needs to relive her past lives to root out any trauma which becomes the framing device on which this film cuts back to throughout. Finally, a highlight of the film, 2014 Los Angeles where audiences meet Gabrielle as a struggling actress housesitting a mansion in a gated community and Louis, an isolated, misogynistic man enraged at the world. Each time period is weaved together seamlessly with Seydoux and McKay convincingly differentiating each timeline’s performance into distinct characters. McKay has slowly been seeing his star rise since his breakout in 1917 and has since quickly become one of the most exciting new actors to watch, but it’s Seydoux who this film lives or dies by as she gives a powerhouse of a performance in arguably her greatest role(s) to date.

The Beast is not one definable thing, both within the narrative and in regards to the film itself as it morphs and changes genre throughout, from historical romance to sci-fi epic to home invasion thriller. Fear of love, fear of loss, fear of an unknown disaster that’ll ripple through us all, each setting explores different facets of this mysterious beast lurking in the shadows of the collective subconscious and yet cyclical motifs and symbols reappear time and time again to tie it all together, is mankind destined to always fear, is love not attainable without fear? In the 1910s, Gabrielle has her porcelain dolls, in 2014, she has a digital talking doll and in 2044, a lifelike cybernetic doll; as much as society evolves, the same human mysteries echo on. A past that restricts it, a present that shuns it, and a future that tries to control it. Bonello’s film is a salient warning of what life could be when we give into the beast, that omnipresent fear.

In that way, it makes The Beast the scariest film of the year, one whose truly haunting ideas are sure to linger days after the credits roll. The Beast is not an easy film to recommend to most viewers, it is a daunting, dense, and head spinning work but for those attuned to its wavelength or looking for something uniquely radical in form and style, they will find much to love here. In this reviewer’s eyes, The Beast is 2024’s first masterpiece, and I can’t wait to see what this film unlocks on repeat viewings.

still courtesy of Maison 4:3

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Alex Josevski

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