Beast Review: Idris Elba Leads Thin, But Entertaining Survival Thriller
Idris Elba has appeared in a number of movies, but in Beast, he does something different by facing up against a lion. The actor uses a different set of muscles in the generic but enjoyable survival thriller. Beast, a film directed by Baltasar Kormákur from a screenplay written by Ryan Engle (based on a tale by Jaime Primak Sullivan), doesn't try to be anything it isn't. The picture offers enough jump scares, action, and tension to keep viewers engaged, even though the overall execution doesn't take any risks, supported by a good cast who make the most of what little they have.
Medical professional Dr. Nate Samuels (Elba) has taken his daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Jeffries) on vacation to South Africa. Nate hopes that taking his girls to the nation of their late mother will help them mend their fractured connection. Nate, Meredith, and Leah visit Martin (Sharlto Copley), a friend who runs a game preserve, to investigate the wildlife. However, it is brief when a rogue lion, seeking retribution from poachers who slaughtered his pride, starts to attack. Nate and his family are stuck with nowhere to go and need to find a means to survive.
Beast makes effective use of its jump scares by escalating the tension they create. Nate and Norah are shown scrounging through cabinets and drawers in a specific scene looking for medical supplies. They continue to go past the open doors they left behind them. There is light coming through, and the tension is raised since it appears as though the lion could charge through those doors at any second. The moment lasts long enough for viewers to be waiting impatiently for the other shoe to drop. Such scenes abound in Beast, enabling it to function as a passable survival thriller.
Although the action scenes in the movie are expertly choreographed, it mostly sticks to the formula for a survival thriller and doesn't do anything particularly innovative or ground-breaking. Even so, the scenes in which Nate must protect his family from the lion are suspenseful, with some of them resembling first-person shooter video games. The suddenness of some of the lion attacks is horrifying enough to shock the audience while also making them pull for Nate and his family to make it through the ordeal, which heightens the adrenaline. Idris Elba and the rest of the cast give heartfelt performances that lift some elements of the superficial script, which helps to support Beast.