French filmmaker Bertrand Bonello has been on the scene since the late ’90s and has been a staple at Cannes since his second feature film, “The Pornographer,” won the FIPRESCI prize in 2001. But his career arguably started picking up a second wind around 2014 with “Saint Laurent,” and it’s kind of been nothing but up since then with many acclaimed films under his belt, including “Nocturama” (2016) and “Zombi Child” (2019). His latest, “The Beast,” is a sci-fi romance, but it’s anything if conventional.
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Loosely based on Henry James’ 1903 novella “The Beast in the Jungle,” the film stars Léa Seydoux and George MacKay, with Guslagie Malanda and Dasha Nekrasova in supporting roles. The film is set in a future wherein artificial intelligence controls everyone’s lives, and human emotions are perceived as a hazard.
The film debuted at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and was also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, where it received much acclaim. Our review of “The Beast” called it “raucously entertaining, with MacKay and Séydoux feeding off each other’s contrasting characters, his quiet rage bubbling up at the thought of Gabrielle’s kindness standing for contemptuous mockery.”
Here’s the official synopsis:
In the near future where artificial intelligence reigns supreme, human emotions have become a threat. To get rid of them, Gabrielle must purify her DNA by going back into her past lives. There, she reunites with Louis, her great love. But she is overcome by fear, a premonition that catastrophe is on the way.
Sideshow and Janus Films will release “The Beast” on April 5, 2024, and with the film only a few months away from release, the companies have released a new trailer, which you can watch below.