One of the bigger stories to come out of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival was Bertrand Bonello’s science fiction film The beast, a dazzling, surreal story about a woman, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux), who relives three past lives as part of a process to cleanse her memories and emotions. In each of these lives she meets Louis (George MacKay van 1917 And Marrow bone) in a series of emotional relationships that lead in dangerous directions. The reactions of the critics were divided between strong positives and questionable negatives, but they seemed to agree that it is a remarkably image-driven, idea-rich film that is sensual and provocative. The comparison with the Wachowskis Cloud Atlas also seemed obvious, given the separate but interconnected stories of people echoing together through time.
Polygon’s reviewer, on the other hand, was a big fan of the film. He told us it was “the purest science fiction experience a movie can offer.” The beastbasically a stylized, high-concept riff on it Henry James’ 1903 short story, “The Beast in the Jungle,” focuses on emotion and experience rather than the mechanical details of reincarnation or the flashback process, making for a gripping, immersive experience. From his review:
The beast‘s three timelines play with seemingly immiscible genres: a classic romance, a gripping horror-thriller and dystopian sci-fi. That places them at a logistical disconnect, but Bonello bonds them aesthetically and emotionally. Through his long, thought-provoking close-ups of Gabrielle and Louis in each section, he creates a sense of longing and isolation across time, connecting human experiences from the past, present and future and putting them into a sharp and chilling context. .
The trailer is mostly impressionistic, with flashes of energy, sadness and anger, with very little detail about the story. But if you want a fuller overview of what appears to be quite a challenging and complicated film in every respect, here is the distributor’s description:
The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society, while humans routinely “erase” their feelings. Hoping to eliminate the pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with various incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-era Paris, Louis is a British man who drives her away from a cold husband, and then in early 21st century Los Angeles as a deranged American hell-bent on violent “retaliation” to deliver.
Will the trial allow Gabrielle to fully connect with Louis in the present, or are the two doomed to repeat their previous fate? Visually daring director Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent, Nocturama) makes his most accomplished film yet: a science fiction epic inspired by Henry James’ turn-of-the-century novella, imbued with mounting dread and a haunting sense of mystery. Punctuated by a career-defining performance in three roles by Seydoux, The beast poignantly conveys humanity’s struggle against dissociative identity and emotionless existence.
The beast debuts in US theaters on April 5, 2024.