Lauren Mulligan/Universal Pictures
August is the month for snappy, inventive genre films that deliver punchy thrills in air-conditioned theaters affording respite from the sweltering heat, and Beast skillfully fits that bill. A kindred spirit to Alexandre Aja’s 2019 gator-fest Crawl, Baltasar Kormákur’s feature takes a simple conceit and executes it with an efficiency and dexterity that amplifies its anxiety. There’s nothing deep or groundbreaking about this studio-funded B-movie, but it does what it promises, generating suspense from its bare-knuckle premise: pitting Idris Elba against a vicious lion.
Elba’s recent cinematic output has been less than awe-inspiring, and thus it’s nice to see the actor get back to proverbial basics with Beast (Aug. 19), a no-nonsense affair that hinges on his stout charisma. In this straightforward tale, Elba is Dr. Nate Samuels, an American doctor traveling to South Africa with his two daughters, older Meredith (Iyana Halley) and younger Norah (Lea Sava Jeffries), in the wake of his wife’s death. Nate is plagued by mysterious dreams in which he navigates a shadowy realm of women, as if he’s searching for something precious that’s been lost, and when he’s awake, he’s forced to deal with Meredith’s coldness and anger at him for having abandoned his wife in her time of need—the result, it’s eventually revealed, of an inopportune marital separation. Meredith is headstrong and Norah is sensitive and upset about her sister and father’s squabbling, and the clan’s tense dynamic doesn’t dissipate when they arrive in the desert for a vacation intended to heal, or at least soothe, their deep wounds.
In this arid environment, Nate, Meredith and Norah are greeted by Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), a lifelong family friend who knew Nate’s wife from childhood and, in fact, set the couple up during their years at university. Martin works on the reserve looking after the wildlife, and his confidence is only matched by his hospitality, which he demonstrates upon bringing his guests back to his remote home. During these early passages, including the troupe’s subsequent daytime excursion into the bush to gaze in amazement at elephants, hippos and giraffes, Ryan Engle’s screenplay casually introduces details destined to factor prominently into the ensuing mayhem. Beast wastes no energy on superfluous frippery, its every gesture designed—obviously, but not ham-fistedly—to establish elements that will ultimately play a part in Nate’s struggle for survival.