Movie Review: Beast

Please note: This article may contain spoilers. Read with caution.

The movie Beast, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, is about a doctor, Nate Samuels (Idris Elba), who travels to Africa with his daughters after his wife's death. Nate went with his daughters to Africa (their mother's homeland) for a holiday, using this as a bonding platform and to remember their late mother. Instead, they were met with an extremely aggrieved and vengeful lion that tries to kill anyone in its way after poachers killed its pride.

The movie begins with a prologue. In the night, a group of poachers kills an entire pride and just one lion was able to escape. This lion goes rogue and starts to attack and kill the poachers one after the other.

After that, we see an American Doctor, Nate Samuels traveling with his two daughters, Meredith (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Sava Jeffries), to visit the South African village where their recently late mother grew up. This is the same place Nate first met her, through a mutual friend and park warden Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley). Nate traveled to the forest reserve with his daughters intending to reconnect with them. Mere (the older sister) is displeased with Nate. However, her parents separated before her mother's death due to cancer, she doesn't feel like Nate ever made efforts to support them, and also, he has not shown sufficient interest in her budding photography career. On the other hand, Norah, the younger one, is more sensitive and forgiving of her father.

Credit: Universal Pictures

On getting to the forest reserve, Nate met with his old friend Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), their host, who happens to be a park warden. He showed more interest in Mere's photography, which she appreciated because her father paid little or no attention to it.

The following day, they set off for a safari to observe wild animals in South Africa. Along the journey, they meet a pride of fully grown lions, lionesses, and their cubs. The frightening, amazing animals approach and greet Martin like a close friend, with Nate and his daughters observing from a distance. Martin notices one of the lionesses wounded in her paw, which appears to be the result of a gunshot from poachers. Apparently, poachers move quietly in the lands, looking for lions to kill, to earn loads of money by selling their teeth, bones, and skins.

After noticing the injury, Martin became concerned and decided to make findings in the nearest village to get information if they witnessed or heard any gunshots within the area. In a village, they find scenes of slaughter. Almost everyone is attacked and killed by what seems like a lion, but even more confusing, none of the people killed have been eaten. They were brutally attacked and left for dead. Martin informs them that this is not a typical cat's behavior. It turns out that the perpetrator was a particularly huge and angry lion who had been attacking and killing every human he met. The same lion which escaped after the poachers killed his entire pride.

Credit: Universal Pictures

Soon enough, Nate, his daughters, and Martin are the Lion's next target. The big and angry lion began to chase them. Stuck with nowhere to go, they have to find a way to survive. In the quest to look for a way to survive, Martin dies. Nate was ready to go to any length to keep his daughters alive. He lures the lion into the open field and single-handedly fights with the lion while suffering various injuries. With the help of the pride, which Nate and his daughters met earlier, they were able to conquer the angry Lion.

Beast is an action survival thriller that was captivating to watch. It goes on to show the importance of wildlife conservation, survival skills, communication, and teamwork, among others. Beast has scenes that make you realize that sometimes you have to forgive people because you never know how long you have with them; in a snap, anyone can die due to circumstances beyond us, and you will be left with regret. This movie indeed shows how far you will go for people you hold dearly, and it shows that one can go to any length to protect the ones they love. This can be seen in the last ten minutes of the movie, where Nate has to protect his daughters by going head to head with the lion, defeating the lion, and guaranteeing the safety of his daughters.

About the author: My name is Franklin Ifeanyi. I am someone who likes to help people; I hope to do that with writing.

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