The French Sci-Fi production by Bertrand Bonello “The Beast” starring Lea Seydoux
will soon release in cinemas worldwide
The science fiction romantic drama, The Beast (French: La Bête) is the creation of the writer-director Bertrand Bonello. Co-written together with Guillaume Bréaud and Benjamin Charbit, the film takes inspiration from the Henry James‘ 1903 novella, The Beast in the Jungle. Léa Seydoux is the main star and leads the cast together with George MacKay, supported by
Guslagie Malanda and Dasha Nekrasova.
The movie is a French-Canadian co-production. Also, a collaboration between Les Films du
Bélier, Bonello’s My New Picture, Arte France Cinéma, AMI Paris, and Xavier Dolan’s Sons
of Manual. Announced in 2021, filming occurred between August and October 2022 in Paris
and Los Angeles. The film debuted at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on
September 3rd, 2023, within the official competition. French theatrical release followed on
February 7th, 2024. Canadian audiences can expect to see it on April 19th, 2024. European
audiences will have it in cinemas starting the 27 of March.
The movie has been greatly expected since it was announced
French magazine Les Inrockuptibles (“Les Inrocks” for short) reported in January 2021 that Arte
France Cinéma had greenlit Bertrand Bonello‘s sci-fi drama movie, La Bête, starring Léa
Seydoux. Development began back in 2017 with Ulliel and Seydoux in mind, following their collaboration on the 2014 film Saint Laurent. The screenplay was loosely inspired by Henry James’ novella The Beast in the Jungle. Originally, the 2014 character Louis drew inspiration from Elliot Rodger, the perpetrator of the 2014 University of California, Santa Barbara mass shooting.
The pandemic forced a filming delay, initially targeting an April 2022 start. Bonello directed
Coma (2022) in the interim, featuring Ulliel‘s final completed performance. Tragically, Ulliel
passed away in a skiing accident in January 2022, necessitating another delay for La Bête.
Seeking to avoid comparisons with Ulliel, Bonello opted to recast the role with a non-French
actor, ultimately landing the role on the British actor George MacKay.
Variety reported MacKay‘s casting in May 2022, highlighting the film’s bilingual nature (French
and English) and its Parisian and Californian settings. Filming commenced in August 2022, with Bonello making slight changes to the script to incorporate MacKay‘s casting, including a bilingual 1910 segment. By September 2022, Léa Seydoux confirmed MacKay‘s French language studies and the film’s late-October resumption of filming. In a 2023 interview, Bonello declared La Bête his “most proud” work to date.
The plot talks about a really important topic in today’s world: Artificial Inteligence
The movie is set in a near future, where artificial intelligence reigns and emotions have become
a threat. To get rid of them, young Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) decides to purify her DNA in a
machine that will immerse her in her past lives. There she reunites with Louis (George Mackay),
her great love. In the end, she finds herself overwhelmed by fear and the feeling that
catastrophe is approaching. The story takes part in three different periods: 1910, 2014 and 2044.
The movie could not choose a better moment to premiere. AI is the new topic everyone is
talking about. The great technological advances made by ChatGPT, Google Bard… are a modern
world issue as relevant as ever. This exploration of AI’s potential influence arrives at a critical
juncture. Recent advancements have reignited conversations surrounding artificial intelligence
and its development. The Beast serves as a thought-provoking exploration of this issue, using a
captivating sci-fi lens to address a modern concern.
The Beast Full cast:
Léa Seydoux – Gabrielle
George MacKay – Louis
Guslagie Malanda – Poupée Kelly
Dasha Nekrasova – Dakota
Martin Scali – Georges
Elina Löwensohn – Medium
Marta Hoskins – Gina
Julia Faure – Sophie
Kester Lovelace – Tom
Félicien Pinot – Augustin
Laurent Lacotte – Architect
Weronika Szawarska – Veronica
Jasmine Van Deventer – Femme casting mannequins
Xavier Dolan (voice) – A.I. System
Bertrand Bonello – Director
Reviews have been very positive for such a risky film
The Beast garnered generally positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, boasting an 86% critic
approval rating based on 35 reviews. The website’s consensus commends the film, calling it
“unwieldy but rewarding” and praising its ability to explore thought-provoking themes through
its science fiction narrative. Similarly, Metacritic assigned the film a score of 80 out of 100
based on 15 reviews, indicating “generally favorable” reception. The Rotten Tomatoes “Critics
consensus” quotes “Unwieldy but rewarding, The Beast uses its sci-fi conceit to explore
intriguing themes in largely satisfying fashion”. International press have been talking a lot about
the film and the great expectation it has.
Top critics like Nick Schager for The Daily Beast said “While its assortment of recurring images,
conversations, scenes, and dynamics intermittently borders on the exhausting, it plays as an
intriguing meditation on desire, dreams, and the things that make us who we are—and without
which we’re lost.” In like manner, Robbie Collin for the Daily Telegraph (UK) “On a first viewing,
I wasn’t quite convinced by some of the glitchy japes Bonello deploys here and there… But
perhaps he wants us to think of the film itself like its torn heroine: a strange machine whose
ghost refuses to give up.”
Now is the moment for the audience to watch the film and make their opinions. Although,
Rotten Tomatoes does not have an audience score yet. However, next Wednesday that will
change and everyone will be able to see what the general public thinks about the film.
Guillermo Lorenzo Manzano
