With "The Sea Beast," Netflix throws its harpoon at a 2023 Oscar nomination for animated feature.
While the film's dialogue and characters aren't exactly unique, its visuals are remarkable and it's actually about something. It's a ripping yarn, a gorgeously rendered kaiju adventure on the high seas that uses fantasy to ask pertinent questions about the stories we believe, and who benefits from that belief.
Viewers are plunged in the deep end with an immersive opening sequence depicting the aftermath of a ship's destruction. We're in a world of wooden vessels at war with monsters; an oceanside kingdom has been sustained largely by a class of "hunters" whose job it is to rid the sea lanes of these giant creatures.
