A Fatal Belief
The Beast
Directed by Bertrand Bonello
Certificate 15, 146 minutes
Released 31 May
As satisfying as it is infuriating, this French genre-bender is part science fiction, part period costume drama and part literary adaptation. It’s based on Henry James’ 1903 novella The Beast in the Jungle, in which a man refuses to marry the woman he loves to spare her from the attack he believes will be perpetrated upon him at some point by a horrible beast.
About a third is, as you might expect, a period costume drama, sumptuously shot on film. However, the co-writer and director Bonello introduces two more separate timelines set in 2014 and 2044 and shot on harsher digital technology for a more modern feel.
He also switches the gender roles round, so that… [Read the full review in Reform]
[Read my longer review on this site]
Trailer: