Idris Elba has been in a variety of films, but Beast sees him do the unusual by battling a lion. The actor flexes his muscles differently in the run-of-the-mill, yet entertaining, survival thriller. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur from a screenplay by Ryan Engle (who wrote the script based on a story by Jaime Primak Sullivan), Beast doesn't pretend to be something it's not. Supported by a good cast, who make the most of the little they have, the film has enough jump scares, action, and suspense to keep the audience riveted, even if the overall execution doesn't take any risks.
Dr. Nate Samuels (Elba), a medical doctor, has brought his daughters, Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Jeffries) to South Africa for vacation. Nate hopes the trip to their late mother's home country will rejuvenate the strained relationship he has with his daughters. Reuniting with his friend Martin (Sharlto Copley), who manages a game preserve, Nate, Meredith, and Leah explore the wildlife. But it's short-lived when a rogue lion, that is out for revenge on poachers who killed his pride, begins attacking. Stuck with nowhere to go, Nate and his family must find a way to survive.
Beast makes good use of its jump scares, building intensity through them and the suspense they bring. There's a particular scene in which Nate and Norah are searching for medical supplies, rummaging through cabinets and drawers. As they do so, they continuously pass by the doors they left open behind them. Light is shining through and the suspense is ramped up because it seems as though the lion could come through those very doors at any moment, pouncing when least expected. The scene goes on long enough that audiences will watch with bated breath, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Beast is littered with such moments, which allows the film to be a fairly decent survival thriller.
In terms of a deeper story, Beast brings personal conflict to the table and attempts to connect all that's happening with Nate and his daughters with the lion attacks. This doesn't always work, but the guilt and anger Nate and Meredith feel, respectively, does raise the stakes, adding a bit more tension to an otherwise thin script. To be sure, their issues could have been fleshed out further, with certain topics and memories being brought up and dropped. But with the focus being so much on the family's survival and Nate specifically being there for his daughters in a way he feels he wasn't before, Beast does just enough to maintain the audience's engagement.
The film's action sequences are staged well, though it remains a by-the-book survival thriller for the most part, not adding anything particularly new or groundbreaking in its execution. Still, the scenes in which Nate is forced to defend himself and his family from the lion are suspenseful, with certain scenes playing out like a first-person shooter video game. This escalates the adrenaline, with the abruptness of some of the lion's attacks horrific enough to terrify the audience and simultaneously root for Nate and his family to survive the ordeal. Beast is also bolstered by Idris Elba and the rest of the cast, who give passionate performances that elevate certain aspects of the surface-level script. Elba's rapport with his onscreen daughters is solid overall, with Sharlto Copley's supporting role conveying the friendship between Nate and Martin without the latter's presence overshadowing the family dynamics driving the narrative.
Though the focus is primarily on the lion's attacks, which leads to a great — if short-lived — final battle, the characters are not sidelined for the main event. Is Beast a memorable film? No, but it has enough, if shallow, story, pulse-pounding intensity, and fight scenes to entertain the audience throughout its brisk runtime. It's an average film that has a bit more meat to it than many survival thrillers, and that is good enough for what it is.
Beast released in theaters on August 19. The film is 93 minutes long and is rated R for violent content, bloody images and some language.