A poster and trailer have arrived online for director Bertrand Bonello’s sci-fi romantic drama The Beast.
The film follows Gabrielle (Lea Seydoux) and Louis (George MacKay) as different incarnations of the pair continuously fall in love with each other over centuries, leading to the year 2044 where they use A.I. to erase the pain of their past-life romances.
The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely “erase” their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Lea Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Epoque-era Paris Louis is a British man who woos her away from a cold husband, then in early 21st Century Los Angeles, he is a disturbed American bent on delivering violent “retribution.” Will the process allow Gabrielle to fully connect with Louis in the present, or are the two doomed to repeat their previous fates?
Visually audacious director Bertrand Bonello (Saint Laurent, Nocturama) fashions his most accomplished film to date: a sci-fi epic, inspired by Henry James turn-of-the-century novella, suffused with mounting dread and a haunting sense of mystery. Punctuated by a career-defining, three-role performance by Seydoux, The Beast poignantly conveys humanity’s struggle against dissociative identity and emotionless existence.
The Beast arrives in cinemas on April 5th.
