Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast is a cinematic enigma—part sci-fi, part romance, part psychological thriller—spanning three centuries and exploring the eternal recurrence of love and fear. Starring Léa Seydoux and George MacKay, the film is inspired by Henry James’s novella The Beast in the Jungle, but it transforms the source material into a fever dream of obsession, technology, and doomed connection. This review will guide you through its labyrinthine plot, rich characters, resonant themes, box office journey, similar films, reasons to watch, a conclusion, and frequently asked questions, all with a deeply human lens.

Detailed Plot

A Love Story Across Three Lifetimes

The Beast unfolds in three distinct time periods—1910, 2014, and 2044—each with its own atmosphere, dangers, and emotional stakes. At the center of each era are Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) and Louis (George MacKay), souls drawn to one another again and again, only to be torn apart by forces both internal and external.

2044: The Age of Artificial Intelligence

In a near-future Paris, artificial intelligence has saved the world from climate collapse but now dominates every aspect of human life. Emotions are seen as liabilities, and most jobs have been automated. Gabrielle, an anxious and sensitive woman, is advised by the omnipresent AI to undergo a DNA purification—a process that will erase her strong feelings, making her eligible for better work. On her way to the purification center, she meets Louis, another candidate. Their connection is immediate and inexplicable, as if they’ve known each other for lifetimes.

Gabrielle’s purification involves reliving her past lives, under the watchful eye of Kelly, an android. Between sessions, Gabrielle is led through a surreal, decade-shifting nightclub, a liminal space where reality and memory blur.

1910: Paris Before the Flood

Gabrielle is now an acclaimed pianist and the wife of Georges, who owns a doll factory. At a salon, she encounters Louis, a man she met years earlier in Naples. She confides in him her lifelong fear of impending catastrophe—a dread that colors her every action. Despite a growing attraction, Gabrielle’s fear keeps her from starting an affair. Louis visits her doll factory, but disaster strikes: a flood triggers a fire, and the two drown together, unable to escape the rising waters.

2014: Los Angeles and the Threat Within

In this timeline, Gabrielle is a model and aspiring actress, house-sitting in Los Angeles. Louis appears as Louis Lewansky, a volatile and isolated man radicalized by online misogyny. He breaks into Gabrielle’s home, pistol in hand, torn between love and hate. Gabrielle, sensing their connection, tries to reach him emotionally, pleading for trust. The scene ends with Louis standing over Gabrielle’s lifeless body in the pool—a tragic echo of their past.

Return to 2044: The Purification Fails

Back in the future, the AI declares Gabrielle’s purification a failure—she is among the rare 0.7% who cannot be purged of emotion. Though stuck in a dead-end job, Gabrielle finds solace in meeting Louis at the nightclub. They dance to Evergreen, a song both recognize from their past lives. Louis boasts of his new job at the Ministry of Justice, but Gabrielle realizes he no longer feels love as he once did. Overwhelmed, she collapses in anguish.

A mid-credits scene offers one last twist: a medium from 1910 calls out to Gabrielle in 2014, warning her not to enter the purification room. A gunshot rings out, leaving the cycle of tragedy unresolved.

Character Analysis

Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux)

Gabrielle is the emotional core of the film—a woman haunted by anxiety and a sense of impending doom. In every era, she is intelligent, sensitive, and deeply lonely. Whether as a pianist, a model, or a future worker, she is defined by her longing for connection and her fear that happiness will always be snatched away. Her inability to let go of emotion, even when technology demands it, is both her curse and her strength.

Louis (George MacKay)

Louis is Gabrielle’s eternal counterpart, embodying both tenderness and danger. In 1910, he is a romantic; in 2014, a man on the edge of violence; in 2044, a fellow seeker of meaning in a sterile world. His fate is always entwined with Gabrielle’s, but he is also shaped by the era’s pressures—sometimes a victim, sometimes a threat, always a tragic figure.

Kelly (Android, 2044)

Kelly is the AI’s human interface, guiding Gabrielle through her purification. She is both caretaker and enforcer, representing the cold rationality of a world that fears feeling.

Georges (1910)

Georges, Gabrielle’s husband in 1910, is a figure of stability and tradition, but also of emotional distance. His presence highlights Gabrielle’s yearning for something more.

Louis Lewansky (2014)

The most disturbing incarnation of Louis, he is a product of alienation and online radicalization. His violence is both personal and symbolic—a manifestation of the world’s failure to nurture empathy.

Thematic Exploration

The Tyranny of Emotion and the Price of Purity

At its heart, The Beast is about the struggle between feeling and control. In 2044, a world that has been saved by AI is also a world where love, grief, and desire are seen as defects. Gabrielle’s refusal—or inability—to be cleansed of her emotions is a radical act of resistance.

Eternal Recurrence and Fate

The film’s structure, looping through time, suggests that some souls are destined to repeat their mistakes and heartbreaks. Gabrielle and Louis are forever drawn together, forever doomed to tragedy. This cyclical fate echoes the novella’s theme and gives the film its haunting power.

Fear, Catastrophe, and the Human Condition

Gabrielle’s lifelong fear of disaster is both personal and universal. It is the anxiety of living in a world where catastrophe—whether environmental, emotional, or technological—always looms. The film asks: Is it better to feel deeply, even at the risk of pain, or to numb oneself for the sake of survival?

Technology, Alienation, and Identity

The AI-dominated future is chilling not for its violence, but for its emptiness. People live in comfort but without purpose or connection. The nightclub, shifting through decades, is a metaphor for nostalgia and the longing for a past that never existed.

Love as Both Salvation and Destruction

The romance between Gabrielle and Louis is intoxicating and toxic. It offers the hope of transcendence but always ends in loss. The film refuses to romanticize their connection, instead presenting love as a force that can both uplift and annihilate.

Box Office Collection

The Beast was not a mainstream blockbuster, but it found its audience among cinephiles and festival-goers, especially in Europe. Its challenging narrative and art-house sensibilities limited its commercial reach, but strong performances by Seydoux and MacKay, along with Bonello’s reputation, drew critical acclaim and steady box office returns for a film of its scale. The film’s haunting imagery and ambitious scope have sparked ongoing discussion and analysis, ensuring its place as a cult favorite.

Similar Movies

Fans of these films will appreciate The Beast for its narrative ambition, emotional complexity, and willingness to blur genre boundaries.

Why You Should Watch The Beast

• Daring Storytelling: The film’s structure, moving across three timelines, challenges and rewards attentive viewers.

• Stunning Performances: Léa Seydoux and George MacKay deliver raw, vulnerable, and unforgettable performances.

• Visual and Emotional Ambition: Bonello’s direction creates a world that is both eerily beautiful and deeply unsettling.

• Thought-Provoking Themes: The film raises urgent questions about technology, emotion, and what it means to be human.

• Haunting Atmosphere: Its mood lingers, inviting reflection long after the credits roll.

• For Lovers of Art Cinema: If you appreciate films that take risks and defy easy categorization, The Beast is essential viewing.

Conclusion

The Beast is not a film that offers easy answers or conventional pleasures. It is a puzzle, a lament, and a warning. Through its fractured timelines and doomed lovers, it asks us to consider the costs of progress, the persistence of fear, and the meaning of love in a world that would rather forget. Bonello’s vision is uncompromising—sometimes cold, sometimes achingly tender, always thought-provoking.

This is a film for those willing to be challenged, to sit with ambiguity, and to embrace the full range of human feeling. Like its protagonists, we are left haunted by what might have been, and what still could be.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is The Beast a romance or a sci-fi film?

It’s both, and more. The film blends romance, science fiction, and psychological thriller elements into a unique cinematic experience.

Do I need to know The Beast in the Jungle to enjoy this film?

No, but familiarity with the novella can deepen your appreciation of the film’s themes of fate and missed opportunities.

Is the film confusing?

The nonlinear narrative and shifting timelines require attention, but the emotional through-line is clear and rewarding for engaged viewers.

Is it suitable for all audiences?

The film deals with mature themes, including violence and existential dread, and is best suited for adult audiences.

Does the film have a happy ending?

The ending is ambiguous and tragic, consistent with the film’s meditation on fate and the impossibility of escaping oneself.

What is the significance of the nightclub scenes?

The nightclub serves as a liminal space, connecting past and present, memory and fantasy—a place where Gabrielle and Louis can briefly reunite outside of time.

How does the film portray artificial intelligence?

AI is depicted as both savior and oppressor, solving climate change but erasing what makes us human: our capacity to feel, love, and suffer.

Why do Gabrielle and Louis keep meeting in different eras?

Their recurring encounters suggest that some connections—and some tragedies—are destined to repeat, no matter the era or circumstances.