Ever since Betrand Bonello’s “La Bête” (The Beast) premiered at the Venice Film Festival ten months ago, its arrival in the UK has been hotly anticipated. With largely positive festival reviews and a reliable casting of Léa Seydoux and George MacKay, The Beast is set to scratch the itch for anyone who wished they could have been at Cannes, but wasn’t. It will also bewitch, titillate and breed nightmares, so tread carefully.
Set between three time periods, the premise of The Beast lives in 2044, an era which has been taken over by AI. Humans are rendered useless due to their fallibility and pesky emotions, but a listless Léa Seydoux wants to make herself useful. As per the AI overlords’ suggestion, she undergoes a series of procedures to rid herself of all past traumas, so she can be a happy worker drone like everyone else.
