The acting in this indie film was very good. Unfortunately, the script lagged a bit. They wanted the audience to see the dysfunctional nature of the characters and implied they each had some kind of psychological disorder, but their behavior was totally inconsistent from from moment to the next. For your $8 ticket, you'll get $9.25 worth of entertainment.

Surprising and beautifully filmed. Not for children.

Loved this movie. It is a great indie suspense movie. The acting is great all around. Main character is a bit of a mess, but then again it is reality. I believed the attraction to the bad boy. I don't know what to think of the ending other than it was not expected. Battle between right and wrong is not always so black and white and can be challenging to work through, but eventually you always know the right answer

This is now one of my favorite movies. The acting was beautiful and subtle. The plot was clever. There was some interesting ambiguity at the end. Highly recommend.

Fascinating performances from the 2 leads lead this psychological mystery on a merry chase. Emotionally taut & wrenching.

During and after watching the movie "Beast" I had many thoughts and questions going through my mind such as am I getting weirder as I get old or are movies getting weirder? Why do first time directors, like Michael Pearce who also wrote the screenplay, feel that they have to show every 'art' shot whether it adds to the movie or not? Did he deliberately want those few bars of music so loud every now and then? Was I missing something with that music?I feel anything I say will be a spoiler which I don't like to give but I can say the main relationship in "Beast" is between Moll (Jessie Buckley) who was punished (I still don't know how!) for stabbing a fellow student when she was younger with scissors and Pascal (Johnny Flynn) who may or may not be a serial killer of young women.I was mesmerized by Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn's acting and the chemistry between them. The closest I can equate them with is the pairing of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not" for the first time. The romance between Moll and Pascal is a mix of tenderness, tension, exposed nerves, suspicions and certainly dangerous. There is no way they won't hold your attention when they are together or even in the scenes where they are apart doing things alone or with other people.I will say that her mother, played by Geraldine James, is the mother of all mothers and there is a policewoman, whose name I didn't catch in the credits, who will have the hairs on your arms standing up.There are scenes of animal cruelty, mainly towards rabbits, that turned me off but the scenes of the island of Jersey off the south coast of England will make you want to catch the next plane there.If nothing else the performances of Jessie Buckley and Johnny Flynn should make "Beast" a big hit but I fear it will disappear far too quickly in the USA but you should make a point of seeing it before then.

Impressive performance by Jessie Buckley. A dark ride that kept me entranced throughout. This well crafted exploration of deception (in many forms) kept me more interested in seeing the relationship play out than the solving of the crime.

This film attempts to penetrate the outward persona of two characters, Moll and Pascal, with violent dispositions who are romantically attracted to one another. Their bond is further reinforced as they become social outcasts within their isolated community on the Channel island of Jersey. The film explores something dark and deeper lurking behind Moll's and Pascal's rough and practical outward appearances but the film achieves this for only Moll as she ultimately comes to terms with her past. As for Pascal, one is left wondering whether he is actually guilty of the senseless serial murders on the island or simply an outsider. Moll is convinced otherwise and forces an anticlimactic and somewhat unconvincing ending. The rustic island scenery and the musical score work well as a backdrop for this low key psychological thriller.

The old "is-he-or-isn't-he-a-murderer" given a deadly somber look and feel by director Michael Pearce.

Beast was just good, but not great. The mom was the best part with her mommy dearest attitude toward her daughter.

'Civil' society gets a righteous distaining hit and savage love a bump. Very engaging though uneven narrative continuity with gaps as the main male character drops out for portions inexplicably.

A psychological thrill ride, vague scenes leave much to the mind. Much to discuss afterward. Overall it was entertaining tho. Recommended for the thinkers that don't need non stop action to keep their attention.

YOU DIRTY GIRL - My Review of BEAST (3 1/2 Stars)There's a little-known icon in pop culture my friend John Cantwell refers to as the Dirty Girl. John, who knows a thing or two about Dirty Girls, plays the ultimate one with his beloved LOVE CONNIE character. He told me, "Everybody loves the Dirty Girl" and I'm inclined to agree. Juliette Lewis in NATURAL BORN KILLERS. HOLE-era Courtney Love in her Baby Doll dress with her leg propped up on an amp as she shreds her guitar. Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey's obsessed, fever dream portrayals in HEAVENLY CREATURES. Divine firing a pistol at an audience while shouting, "Who wants to die for art?" in FEMALE TROUBLE. They're brash, brazen, slightly unhinged, and not afraid to get their hands dirty. Now, let's extend a warm welcome to the newest member of the DGC (Dirty Girl Club), Jessie Buckley, an Irish singer/actor who's initial claim to fame was her 2nd place finish in a BBC American Idol-style talent show called I'D DO ANYTHING. Her performance in BEAST, the debut feature from writer/director Michael Pearce should erase any wholesome image anyone had of her as her performance here can best be described as a disturbing gut punch filled with primal screams and, yes, lots and lots of literal dirt. BEAST, a psychological thriller, take a long, hard look at Buckley's Moll, a young woman living under her mother's care and who clearly experienced some prior, as-yet-unnamed trauma. It's her birthday when we meet her, and instead of remaining at the family party, she runs off to a club to drink, dance and flirt all night. She finds herself on a walk of shame with a man she met there who makes unwanted advances toward her. Another stranger, with rifle in hand, appears and scares away her harasser. He's Pascal (Johnny Flynn), a young, good looking but messy man who is clearly the Dirty Boy to Moll's Dirty Girl. The two start a tentative romance, which Moll hides at first from her mother (a fantastic Geraldine James, who I remember fondly as the "Bitty Mommy" in the classic LITTLE BRITAIN breastfeeding sketches). During all of this, the police investigate a series of murders, which may or may not be the work of Pascal or Moll or perhaps someone else. We eventually learn about a traumatic moment in Moll's past, as she, as our unreliable narrator of sorts, slowly but surely unravels. BEAST aims to call into question the nature of evil and its place in society. I won't spoil any more of the story, as it's a moody, immersive, visual experience, beautifully shot by cinematographer Benjamin Kracun, whose work I did not know before this. It's a highly accomplished piece of directing, acting and photography. Unfortunately, it's also overextended and a truly, painful ugly experience. For those who love their film stories on the messy side, this film will astound them. It explores fascinating, original themes and has plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing from beginning to end. The whodunit aspect of the film, however, pales in comparison to what it's trying to say about who we are as people and where we go after recognizing our true natures. Things get wrapped up a bit too tidily in the end, whereas there's a specific moment late in the film that would have ended things on a more chilling note. Regardless, I loved Buckley's voracious attack on her character, a primal scream from deep down inside the mind of a very dirty girl!

An excellent, intense thriller. I did work out who it was until right at the end

Not without flaws or plot holes, but I was willing to forgive it for those because the acting was so good, and the cinematography so beautiful.