I do love I Can See Clearly Now, which plays over this trailer, though I won’t lie, I was hoping for an arty, slowed down version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Tight Fit version). Maybe in the finished film there’ll be a plainsong Circle Of Life as the giant lion tucks into its dinner?
Idris Elba stars as Dr Nate Samuels in this pulse-pounding new thriller about a father and his two teenage daughters who find themselves hunted by a massive rogue lion. The trailer looks good, and proves even established scares (the lion breaking the silence by smashing into the side window) can work brilliantly in the right hands. It does have the “pre-dead wife” trope (he’s been recently widowed) but I’ll forgive it that, as I’ve loved Idris Elba since he insisted on putting up a Christmas tree as soon as he woke up from their long voyage in Prometheus.
Here’s the synopsis:
Dr. Nate Daniels (Elba) a recently widowed husband, returns to South Africa on a long-planned trip with his daughters to a game reserve managed by Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), an old family friend and wildlife biologist. But what begins as a journey of healing jolts into a fearsome fight for survival when a lion, a survivor of blood-thirsty poachers who now sees all humans as the enemy, begins stalking them.
Iyana Halley (The Hate U Give, This is Us series) plays Daniels’ 18-year-old daughter, Meredith, and Leah Sava Jeffries (Rel series, Empire series) plays his 13-year-old, Norah. Beast is directed by Baltasar Kormákur.
Watch the trailer now, and scroll down for more images:
Beast is out in UK cinemas on 26 August and US cinemas on 19 August.
BEAST IMAGES