In this film, the future is full of imagined tensions enhanced by artificial intelligence. The direction is pure in portraying human emotions. The writing seems strong and science-based, but gets blurrier as the story transitions. The Beast is about two individuals spanning different generations. While I’m normally a sucker for films set in the future which require audiences to think, I left feeling this movie confused. In short, the film dives into too many different timelines and too many emotions. Frequently, I asked myself, what is the correlation?  Where is the logic? Although there is some artistic value in the film, there is even more melancholy.

The film begins in a future setting where artificial intelligence takes control of people’s minds and lives. The two individuals in this bizarre premise are Gabrielle and Louis (played by Lea Seydoux and George Mackay). They are acquainted with love and relationships in the years 1910, 2014, and 2044. During each period, their relationship status differs. In one generation, they are in love. And, in another generation they are in turmoil. Finally, in yet another generation, they are strangers. The Beastis a tense experimental film. The focus on artificial intelligence leads to some visual brilliance, but the entire film is not executed effectively.

Its limiting factor is that the film keeps drifting back and forth. The dynamic remains serious as The Beast has plenty of turmoil played out in different generations. Still, there is confusion as audiences try to figure out how the eras correlate in these shifting universes.  Love and faith shift yet remain unclear due to  the film’s lack of continuity, The Beast goes down the rabbit hole without clearly evolving.  

Love is lost in turmoil and peril making the fate of the coupleinevitable in The Beast. The film paints a disastrous picture of judgment in the relationship between Gabrielle and Louis. At one point during the 2014 era, Louis says, “I deserve girls!” During that time, they are complete strangers and somehow get acquainted. However, the film’s transition is just a mess createdby a lack of supporting information to explain the events which occur.

There is further confusion when Gabrielle goes back and forth in a mind study in which Louis is also looped in. The Beast tries to convey a message to boost its sci-fi value by including surreal technical and artistic elements. The writing in support of the plot does not do justice to the film’s scenes. I felt repeatedly dissatisfied during the film. At certain points, I was amazed but then again exhausted as I tried to put pieces in the different time periods together.

The personalities and behaviors of Gabrielle and Louis are divergent in the different generations of The Beast. It is asuspenseful thriller which is weakened due to misdirection on a journey to find a futuristic climax. Overall, it was not a terrible experience, but it left me exhausted and wanting for a rewind button. Two out four stars for The Beast.