The Beast Within, 2024.
Directed by Alexander J. Farrell.
Starring Kit Harington, Ashleigh Cummings, James Cosmo, Caoilinn Springall, Adam Basil, Ian Giles, and Martina McClements.
SYNOPSIS:
After a series of strange events leads her to question her family’s isolated life on a fortified compound deep in the English wilds, 10-year-old Willow follows her parents on one of their secret late-night treks to the heart of the forest.
Where is a film supposed to go when the central metaphor is painfully obvious from the early stages? The Beast Within director Alexander J. Farrell doesn’t really seem to know, trying to obfuscate this into a story of mystery and dread. It’s admirable that he is allowing it to unfold from the unassuming and innocent perspective of a 10-year-old daughter, but in doing so, he keeps the viewer one step ahead of her practically until the climax. This also wouldn’t be too much of an issue if the characters had some depth to them, which the film takes as giving the child an illness conveniently requiring oxygen during moments of terror and, expectedly, typically losing that source of air during the danger.
Beginning with the all too common phrase “there are two wolves inside” proverb, it is made apparent that the literal beast Kit Harington’s Noah mutates into once a month is perhaps not the only beast to worry about. If you had a hunch that this family drama is not so secretly about domestic abuse, you would be right. And even though Kit Harington is putting in the work trying to convey a multilayered father who can snap and turn into a figurative beast at any moment, putting his wife Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings) and child Willow (Caoilinn Springall) in danger from his path of outward physical anger, the film still amounts to nothing more than a metaphor that needed more time and another rewrite (Farrell also wrote the screenplay alongside Greer Ellison) to cook up something compelling around that dynamic.
There isn’t anything special to note about the beast’s design, which also happens to be generic and buried in darkness to cover up what had to of been a low special effects budget. However, a creative aesthetic and unnerving unfamiliar designs can always overcome that budgetary constraint. Here, it is nothing more than the most familiar of werewolf tales.
Imogen takes Noah deep into the woods once a month to shackle him up, ensuring that he doesn’t fatally wound anyone he loves during one of his regular transformations. Curious about what is actually happening, why her father disappears once a month, and why her mom has bruises and marks all over her body (the viewer’s first clue that not all of this is probably related to the literal monster), Willow sneaks away from grandfather Waylon (James Cosmo) to follow her parents and see what happens. Fortunately, Imogen catches on and can protect Willow following the mutation.
As for Waylon, he mostly exists to explain away exposition regarding this generational curse. The rest of The Beast Within consists of Willow slowly learning the dark truth about her father, and once again, that’s not strictly limited to the supernatural element. For such a perilous folkloric concept, there also isn’t much dread or suspense, and the surrounding forest isn’t exactly striking to look at or appropriately ominous (it’s filtered through a weak display of smoke or fog, giving the impression of a sinister environment but not feeling it.)
There is one captivating scene observing father and daughter in the woods, with the former cutting some wood, casually engaging with her about her interest in helping, taking on big responsibilities, and generally coming across as a gentle and wonderful guardian. In that same scene are flashes of the cruelty within The Beast Within. It’s the closest the film comes to functioning as compelling, otherwise hampered by the tiny scope of its blatantly obvious metaphor bludgeoned into the viewer five minutes in.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
