BEAST WITHIN, THE

(director/writer: Alexander J. Farrell; screenwriter: Greer Ellison; cinematographer: Daniel Katz; editor: Matthieu Laclau; music: Nathan W. Klein, Jack Halama; cast: Kit Harington (Noah), Ashley Cummings (Imogen), James Cosmo (Waylon), Ian Giles (William),
Caoilinn Springall (Willow); Runtime: 97; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Martin Owen, Alex Chang, Jack Christian, Ryan Hamilton, Sebastian Street, Jordan Wagner, Merlin Merton, Evan Ross; Paradox House/Well Go USA; 2024-UK)

“Though chillingly atmospheric, there’s not much of a story.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Brit documentary filmmaker Alexander J. Farrell (“Refugee”/”Making A Killing”) directs a fantasy monster pic, more or less a character study, that he co-writes as a psychological thriller with Greer Ellison. It’s about a family living in a compound in a remote area in the English woods, who are kept in fear by a curse placed on their patriarch.

The  lonely, asthmatic, 10-year-old girl Willow (Caoilinn Springall) lives in the woods with her mother, Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings), her cursed father, Noah (Kit Harington), and grandfather, Waylon (James Cosmo). When the girl learns why her father is held in confinement at night (suffering from an hereditary curse) and is driven away from home by his wife at night to go feral in the woods, she no longer can relate to him.

Though chillingly atmospheric, there’s not much of a story, no surprises and little that held my interest. The third act is filled with contrivances and offers not much of an emotional impact needed for such an emotional story.

It played at the Fantasia International Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 8/5/2024  GRADE: C+
dennisschwartzreviews.com