The Beast
Lynchian science fiction thriller about the influence of artificial intelligence on humans, set in a future where human emotions are deemed a threat. With Léa Seydoux and George MacKay.
A heady, centuries-spanning sci-fi examination of love, obsession, and existential dread, THE BEAST is freely adapted from THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE, Henry James’ classic novella.
To purge her emotions and purify her DNA, Gabrielle must navigate her past lives to try to isolate the lingering pangs, not only of passion, but also of clutching fear. In both 1904 France and 2014 Los Angeles, she encounters Louis anew – a dashing English aristocrat in the former time, a bitter incel in the latter. Despite each dramatically reconfigured dynamic, an inexplicable yearning remains. Lurking alongside, however, is a palpable sense of premonition: the metaphorical beast.
THE BEAST is Bertrand Bonello’s most ambitious film to date, high concept and speculative in every sense, and directing questions of ‘what if’ toward not just an imagined future, but also what came before. (source: tiff.net)