Film Review: Beast

"Sweetheart, You Just Can't Change The Rules Because Someone's Showed An Interest..."

Appearing onto the cinematic fold with his first big-screen offering after a number of independent shorts, Michael Pearce writes and directs Beast, a spine-tingling, nihilistic and paranoid psychological thriller which sees Jessie Buckley's (Taboo) Moll break free of her critical and controlling family as she comes into contact with Johnny Flynn's (Clouds of Sils Maria) bohemian and free-spirited Pascal within the confines of an unnamed, rural and isolated community paralysed with fear after a number of young women are found brutally raped and murdered. With the ghost of Twin Peaks springing to mind each and every time there is a narrative crossover regarding the impact of death on a close-knit community, Pearce's movie does impressively share a tonal similarity with David Lynch's sprawling and surrealist masterpiece, with the film holding a relentless ominous tone up until its' final, haunting shot, and whilst Beast decides to stay strictly within the realms of linear storytelling, with its' feet planted heavily on the ground rather than conforming to the surrealist temperaments found in most Lynch works, its' the shadow of the uncertain which brilliantly pushes the drama and undoubtedly leaves the audience in a contemplative mood regarding what has unfolded upon them.

Shot primarily on the island of Jersey, Pearce's movie follows Buckley's Moll, a reclusive, distant and dissatisfied daughter who resides at her home alongside the intrusive, demanding and judgemental figure of her mother, Hilary, brilliantly played by Geraldine James (Rogue One) who demands familial perfection. After stumbling across Flynn's Pascal, a relationship between the two begins to blossom, much to the distaste of the rest of Moll's family, resulting in a heavy sense of alienation as Moll begins to suspect that Pascal has much more to his questionable and overly murky history than it originally seems. Although Pearce's movie features beautiful, sweeping landscapes and that particularly familiar British independent feel around it, akin to the melancholic temperament of Calvary and the uncertain sensibility of Ben Wheatley's Kill List, the film is not entirely cinematic throughout its' 110 minute runtime, with dialogue set pieces heavily reminiscent of an ITV crime drama at times, but with a clear Hitchcock influence, particularly Shadow of a Doubt, acting as a thorough through line from start to finish, Pearce's feature debut is a dark, twisted and enjoyably startling success. 

Overall Score: 8/10