Beast (2022)

Directed by Baltasar Kormákur. Starring Idris Elba, Iyana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries, Sharlto Copley, Tafara Nyatsanza. [R]

Elba and his two daughters are on vacation at a South Africa game reserve when they get trapped in the wilderness while being stalked and attacked by a rogue lion. Aside from the “notice me” camerawork employing lots of roving long takes, and a solid effort from the reliable Elba, it’s very routine stuff. Mostly plays out like Cujo with a CGI lion attacking a sports utility vehicle in place of a real St. Bernard attacking a Pinto (wait, wasn’t this already done in that movie from about fifteen years ago called Prey?), and for a single minded, R-rated, B-style thriller, the gore is on the discreet side and the body count (of characters afforded more than a minute or two of screentime) is disappointingly low. The family drama material is pulled straight from carbon paper, and the pic may very well challenge audience sympathies since the two girls’ erratic, emotional and very frustrating behavior is probably exactly how those kinds of characters would act in this situation…but since the script refuses to mercifully remove them from danger, I must admit I was rooting for the lion to please silence them. I guess I just don’t have the paternal instincts of Elba’s widow-under-pressure.

48/100