Beast stars Idris Elba as a father who is disconnected from his two daughters, and following the death of his estranged wife he takes the girls to visit his mothers home village in Africa. While there they come across a lion who is out for revenge on humans after poachers killed his pride. He must protect his family from the lion who is out to prove it is the apex predator in the Savannah.
The movie is what you expect from the trailer a thriller with some good jump scares. The movie doesn’t break new ground in any way from similar plots with encountering a killer animal. The movie does also focus on the family dynamic quite a bit given the disconnect between father and daughters, the eldest daughter in particular. Idris Elba does well in his role of the father Dr. Nate Samuels as does Sharlto Copley as the family friend and wildlife biologist Martin Battles. If there is an actor you would believe could take on a rouge lion hell bent on killing people it would be Idris.
The film fails to really drive home any true feelings for the characters, even though you hope they all can survive. One would hope since the focus is on family you could relate to aspects of the disconnected family, but I just couldn’t. The eldest daughter is your stereotypical spoiled millennial daughter who believe she is older and wiser than she is, which is just annoying. The youngest daughter appears to be there just as a person to try and drive home the eldest’s issues with her father than an important character in a movie that has a small cast.
The movie is alright, nothing special but will kill an 1.5 hours and would be worth checking out if you like the trailer.
-Everett
