Bertrand Bonello has lately distinguished himself for using cinema in arguably its most valuable application: philosophical exploration.
In his 2016 film Nocturama, he showed us that the spoils of nihilistic terrorism are a few sad hours of playtime amid luxury consumer goods. In Zombi Child (2019) he reminded us that the modern secular West turns out to be as susceptible to diabolical enchantment as the primitive past. In his new film, The Beast, Bonello invites us to contemplate the inhumane future that we may soon inherit from our ancestors, who were slowly and then suddenly detached from their own inherent dignity.
