There is something about movies like Beast, this sort of man vs. nature survival horror that is so palpable to me. It's easy for me to imagine myself in the situation the characters are facing and wonder what would I do in their shoes? Which is probably what made this movie so effective for me as I squirmed in my seat as the movie played out in front of me.
Recently widowed Dr. Nate Samuels (played by Idris Elba) and his daughters Mae (played by Iyana Halley) and Norah (played by Leah Sava Jeffries) are taking a vacation at the Mopani Wildlife Reserve in South Africa. Upon their arrival, they are greeted by family friend Martin Battles (played by Sharlto Copley), who helps oversee the Wildlife Reserve. They settle in at Martin's house and the following day, he takes them out to tour the Reserve. He introduces Nate and his daughter to the local Lion Pride, including two he helped raise from cubs. Martin notices one of the lions injured but will not let him get close enough to examine it. When they visit the local Tsonga village, they are shocked to find it deserted, with a number of residents dead. Martin quickly surmises a rogue lion is responsible and hurries everyone back to their car so they can go report the attack. On the way back, they encounter a severely injured Tsonga man in the middle of the road. Nate tries to help him but the man soon dies. Martin attempts to track the lion but gets ambushed before the Lion comes after Nate. He runs back to the car, taking cover with Mae and Norah. When the Lion attacks the car, Mae tries to drive away but in the chaos winds up crashing the car. Now, stuck in the middle of the African wild with his two daughters, no working radio and no way to drive out, Nate has to figure out how to not only survive but protect his two daughters as well.
The film was directed by Baltasar Kormakur from a script by Ryan Engle. Together, they craft a lean little horror thriller flick that is suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat. There is an efficiency to the way the film sets up it's characters and the story. None of it is particularly groundbreaking, but it works well enough. I thought it was a nice touch that they set up a motivation for the Lion in that the rest of his pride was wiped out by a group of poachers and therefore the Lion learned that man, any man, is a potential threat and would make sense he would lash out. It did make for an interesting viewing experience for me as on one hand when the Lion was attacking Nate or the kids I hated him, but when he was munching on the Poachers, I was all, "I'm rooting for the Lion. I hope he swallows your friends whole." Still, the filmmakers keep an unrelenting pace to the film as Nate and the girls move from one challenge to another trying to get out of their situation. The Lion attacks are intense and the effects are damn near flawless. All of the lions in the film are CGI, but I had to look it up just to make sure, that's how good it was.
Idris Elba leads the cast and is quite good in the role of Nate. His character is clearly not a man of action but rather a capable and compassionate doctor. At the start of the movie, his character is in a rocky place with his two daughters and the trip was meant to try and repair their relationship. You really get a sense of the guilt his character is carrying as he tries to repair that relationship. Yet, when the action starts, he is equally great as a capable hero, but also one who is clearly scared out of his wits but trying to keep it together for his kids. Sharlto Copley does well as Martin and plays off Idris Elba quite well with a good report that perfectly conveys their characters long friendship. Iyana Halley and Leah Sava Jeffries do well as Mae and Norah. It would be easy for their characters to just be screaming potential victims, but they do well fleshing out their characters and making them relatable. It helps that the film allows both at different points be active participants in trying to get out of their situation as well, allowing both opportunities to be heroic in their own right that I loved seeing.
Beast is a pretty simple, straightforward flick that is a lean, suspenseful movie. Once it gets going, it hardly let up and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. It delivered exactly what it promised and delivered it well. I can't really ask for much more than that.
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