Beast

Going into Beast I thought I would’ve been on the edge of my seat invested in how the family survives. I am relieved I didn’t see this in the theaters. What is sad is this could have been an edge of your seat thrill ride till the very end. Yet, they made a run time of an 1hr 32mins feel like 2hrs.

Nathan (Idris Elba) takes his two daughters, Norah (Leah Jeffries) and Mare (Iyana Halley) to their deceased mother’s village in South Africa as a way for them to process their grief and to reconnect as a family. While there, they are staying with their father’s longtime friend, Martin (Sharlto Copley), an enforcer who protects the animals on the reserve. He gives Nathan, Norah, and Mare an exclusive safari tour in lands that are restricted to the usual tourist groups. After a car accident they end up stranded in a lion’s territory who has been attacked by poachers, and is not willing to let the group leave without fighting for their lives.

What struck me the most is how contained the film actually is for being in the wild. Due to that stiffness took away any suspense for me. The characters don’t move that much overall. This made the film drag. I expected them to leave the car behind and have this full out adventure amongst nature. But they stay in the car or are close to it as much as possible. This is where casting fell apart for me because the daughters really tried their best and had occasional good moments, but can’t act to the level that was necessary to carry the film alongside Idris Elba.

The core story of the mom dying of Cancer and Nathan not being there for his wife or kids enough during that time is a cliched tired angle to rest the entire film on. When the main antagonist in the movie is gimmicky there needs to be a counterbalance with the plot that if it is going to be a generic take on family issues in summary then when it comes to character’s dialogue it needs to have nuance. Due to no originality in the characters dialogue or their development, I didn’t care about the family drama or their dynamics. This made the movie very frustrating because there was no motivation for me to deep down root for anyone on a deeper dramatic level.

Beast is currently streaming on Peacock.