The Beast

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1:37

The Beast

2024

2h 26m

Drama

Romance

Sci-Fi

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

86%

Tomatometer

144 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

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 (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-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.

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Critics Consensus

Unwieldy but rewarding, The Beast uses its sci-fi conceit to explore intriguing themes in largely satisfying fashion.

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Adam Nayman

The Ringer

Jul 23, 2024

The Beast gives a sense of an artist burrowing deep inside his material (and his moment) and emerging with something vital. It’s fearless filmmaking.

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

Jul 13, 2024

3/5

About halfway through Bertrand Bonello’s insanely knotty new picture – a Spaghetti Junction of semi-discrete timelines – one version of Léa Seydoux gives in to frustration. “What the f**k are you talking about!” she yells into the ether. What indeed?

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Mark Kermode

Kermode and Mayo's Take (YouTube)

Jun 5, 2024

Against any rhyme or reason, it works.

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Mark Asch

Screen Slate

Aug 13, 2026

In The Beast (2023), Bertrand Bonello uses James’s parable of love and fear as leaping-off point to explore obstacles to intimacy in the past, present, and future.

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Ryan Swen

Taipei Mansions

Sep 5, 2025

The general cacophony suggested by this hailstorm of information, however, does not truly describe the experience of The Beast, and how both Bonello and Seydoux contribute to the singular, overwhelming mood.

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Clotilde Chinnici

The People's Movies

Aug 19, 2025

3.5/5

Overall, The Beast is an incredible film, unlike anything I have ever seen in recent years thanks to its ambitious storyline and fascinating visuals.

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Kelvin G

Apr 24, 2024

This was very well acted and shot well, but the story was just meh. There was entirely too much dialogue. The end was somewhat abrupt too.

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Will

Apr 21, 2024

A very strange movie that uses a sci-fi framework to examine difficulties people face in forming connections and sustaining relationships very ambitious and not totally successful, it benefits from a strong lead in Lea Seydoux and sharp direction. Still, it bites off more than it can chew thematically.

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Remy

Apr 13, 2024

Strange movie but made me think and was entertaining

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Dotan

Apr 12, 2024

First half was very boring and then the rest mad 0 sense

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Jerod S

@jeroduptown Sep 19, 2026

I get that AI in control of our lives would be an awful way to live. But, The Beast takes forever to unfurl a tragic love story across weird timelines.

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Andrei A

@RT68612114 May 15, 2026

It is extremely satisfying to see the self-documentation of the modern culture in such a beautiful form. The parallels of an approaching cataclysm, the singularity, the role-swapping of men and women in relationships, the horror, the fading mystery, the future, the past. Marvelous.

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Bertrand Bonello

Director

Léa Seydoux

Gabrielle

George MacKay

Louis

Guslagie Malanda

Poupée Kelly

Dasha Nekrasova

Dakota

Elina Löwensohn

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The Beast: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

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 (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay). Set first in Belle Époque-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.

Director: Bertrand Bonello
Producer: Justin Taurand, Bertrand Bonello, Xavier Dolan, Nancy Grant
Screenwriter: Bertrand Bonello, Bertrand Bonello, Guillaume Bréaud, Benjamin Charbit
Distributor: Sideshow / Janus Films
Production Co: Arte France, Les Films du Bélier, My New Picture
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Original Language: French
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 5, 2024, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 18, 2024
Box Office (Gross USA): $414.0K
Runtime: 2h 26m
Sound Mix: Surround
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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