Venice keeps on rolling. The film to beat this year seems to be Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” far and away the best-reviewed film of the competition. Is it winning the Golden Lion?
However, some very positive reviews for Bertrand Bonello’s “The Beast.” Five-stars from The Guardian, A- from IndieWire, raved by Cineuropa, B+ via The Playlist; Screen and Little White Lies loved it.
Variety, Deadline and THR are mixed on it. This fits perfectly well with Bonello’s style of filmmaking, which can definitely polarize some.
In my opinion, Bonello’s hasn’t made a better film than 2017’s “Nocturama,” a terrorist thriller that felt like a brilliant hybrid of Bresson’s “The Devil” and Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead.” The reviews he’s getting out of Venice for “The Beast” seem to be veering towards career-best notices.
Bonello is a critically acclaimed French filmmaker who has had his films premiere at Cannes, Berlin and Venice. “The Beast” plunges us into a near future where emotions have become a threat. Gabrielle (Lea Seydoux) finally decides to purify her DNA in a machine that will plunge her into past lives and her rid of all strong feelings that have haunted.
Rumored to have been rejected by Cannes earlier this year, Betrand Bonello’s sci-fi film “The Beast” has had some strong word of mouth these past weeks, with even some hinting at a possible Golden Lion win. I still think it’s Lanthimos’ Lion to lose at this point in time, with half the competition having been screened.
I’ll be watching “The Beast” five days from now at TIFF. Can’t wait.