176. Beast Beast; movie review

 

 

BEAST BEAST

Cert 15

87 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language, violence, scene of sexual threat

How opportune - a movie which contrasts those who go out and grab life against those who develop their personalities in cyberspace.

Beast Beast provokes much food for thought but it is such a shame it takes so long to reach its climax.

Its central characters are an aspiring actress (Shirley Chen), her neighbour (Will Madden) who is immersed in developing a following for his pro-weapons YouTube site and her potential love interest (Jose Angeles) an easily led skateboarder who is trying to fit it.

Chen's Krista is alluringly happy and friendly, seeing the joy in minor events.

For example, she is impressed by Nito despite him finding life tough, excluded by his father and falling in with the wrong crowd.

The two begin to conjure an unlikely romance while she is rehearsing for a new theatre production and he is being used by new 'friends to lead burglaries.

Meanwhile, Krista's next-door neighbour, Adam, is a weapon obsessive who is seeking unsuccessfully to create an audience for his macho videos.

Adam becomes psychologically damaged by the negative comments which are posted on his page and takes his anger out on his parents, especially his father.

Each of these individuals is quite interesting in their own way but Danny Madden's film fails to reveal what led them to their current situation.

Instead, it lingers too long on the minutiae of now until something seismic happens which draws all three of them together.

This conclusion is so devastating that it poses a whole host of intriguing moral questions.

Beast Beast's young cast impress the longer the movie goes on and Madden certainly shows that he can deliver a knock-out punch.

But it was a pity that the hits didn't come sooner

Reasons to watch: Its very effective crescendo

Reasons to avoid: Takes too long to get where it needs to go

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Did you know? The origin of Beast Beast is a short film, “Krista,” focused on Krista. It drew the attention of Alec Baldwin’s producing partner, Casey Bader, after it won the Vimeo Staff Pick Award at SXSW in 2018. Baldwin became a producer of the feature film.

The final word. Danny Madden: “I remember one night we were filming in [the character] Adam’s room, which is on the other side of the house from my mom and dad’s room — and of course, they’re going on with their normal lives [as the shoot is happening] and they’re going to work — and we wrapped at like four in the morning,” Moveable Fest

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