dir. Baltasar Kormákur
In Beast, Nate (Idris Elba) and his daughters are besieged by a lion. Not just any lion, either – a lion which seems to have no sense of smell (as it seems unable to detect a human who is simply the other side of a tree), no peripheral vision (ditto the above), the ability to change size (one moment it’s trying to get through a car window, the next it’s the size of the entire car), and is also fireproof (there is very little else to say except that this lion can survive being engulfed by an inferno, with nothing to show for it except a few blackened patches of fur). Meanwhile, although this particular lion seems to be an unstoppable killing machine, it’s balanced out by the other, heroic, playful, human-loving lions who save the day. Ostensibly, according to Beast, lions are either pure good or pure evil. Even more unbelievable than the lions, though, are the humans. Each person manages to make worse and worse decisions thoughout the film. Oh, we don’t know where we are? Let’s just drive randomly, further away from where we knew people would be! Oh, there are dangerous creatures in the water? Let’s go in the water! Oh, the car’s the only safe place right now? Let’s leave the car! Beast is not a particularly compelling action or horror, but it is a fascinating portrayal of humankind at its most stupid.
BMDb 