Watch The Uniquely Odd UK Trailer For The Beast

Vertigo Releasing have released the UK Trailer for Bertrand Bonello‘s uniquely odd Sci-fi The Beast starring George MacKay and Lea Seydoux.

Calling this French film ‘Uniquely Odd’ isn’t a negative towards the film. Anyone who has watched the film be it at it’s world premiere at Venice Film Festival or UK premiere at BFI London last year, it’s a hard film to decipher. I watched the film at Glasgow Film Festival in March which George MacKay attended he even said it wasn’t the easiest of films to describe.

The Beast is a genre bending film with sci-fi and romantic drama the main genres. Set in the near future, in a world A.I controls our lives, Gabrielle (Seydoux) wants to get rid of it. She must purify her DNA and go back to several timelines, during these travel she meets Louis (MacKay).

I really didn’t like this unfortunately. At 2hour 25 minutes running time, I found it slow, convoluted and got nowhere, it was a endurance test ….

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.

The Beast will be released in UK and Irish cinemas from 31st May.