The Beast Within (2024) 

The Beast Within (2024)  Directed by Alexander J Farrell

Written by Greer Ellison and Alexander J. Farrell

A Horror Movie Review by: Mark Walker

After a series of strange events leads her to question her family’s isolated life on a fortified compound deep in the English wilds, 10-year-old Willow follows her parents on one of their secret late-night treks to the heart of the forest. IMDB

Willow (Caoilinn Springall) lives in isolation on a farm with her mum, Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings), Dad, Noah (Kit Harrington) and grandfather, Waylon (James Cosmo). The farmhouse is in the middle of a secure compound that Willow rarely leaves, although she does witness her mother and father leaving on an evening once a month before her mother comes home alone. Her father returns the next day, seemingly exhausted, resting up while. After one excursion Willow stumbles on her mum washing the blood from a blanket her dad had wrapped around him when he left the previous evening. 

Willow is of an age where curiosity gets the better of her and she stows away with her parents one night to find out what is going on. It is no spoiler to tell you that Noah is only a flippin’ werewolf and goes away each month so Imogen can lock him up securely to ensure he can do no harm to the family.

Or is he?

Well, if you take the film on face value, yes, he is a werewolf but, in reality, The Beast Within is a clear allegory about domestic violence. While Noah’s monthly nights away lead to a scary transformation, his behaviour at home, when he is “normal” could be considered scarier. In a brief moment of family calm, Imogen tells Noah she loves him when he is “like this” and his response reflects the bubbling tension beneath the surface; the “beast within.” Willow sees bruising on her mum’s body in one scene, when changing her clothes and it is never clear whether this was a result of the Beast Within or the actual werewolf.

As a werewolf film, The Beast Within is a decent take on the concept.

But as an allegory of domestic violence, the movie is a little clumsy. That’s not to say it is completely ham-fisted, it’s just not a particularly new exploration of the dynamic of an abusive relationship. Horror is a genre that excels at social commentary, but sometimes, you just wanna see a werewolf.

Which you don’t really get the chance to with The Beast Within. Sometimes less is more, but we see very little of any beast or violence until close to the end of the movie, and the beast is still pretty well hidden by the shadows and editing. If you’re watching a werewolf movie, you want blood and guts, but you won’t get that here; The Beast Within is more thoughtful and plodding. And it does plod. At 97 minutes, it’s not a long film by today’s standards, but it feels longer when watching it. Again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing if you are making at contemplative exploration of one family’s existence, but it is worth being aware of this if you choose to watch the film.

On the whole though, The Beast Within is nicely shot and well directed and has a few nice moments of suspense. The cast do a decent job and any film with James Cosmo obviously and instantly gets an additional star! I have not quite made my mind up about Kit Harrington. I am not sure whether he is a great actor or not, but I always enjoy watching him and he does a decent job here as the troubled father, veering from doting dad to petrifying patriarch!

A couple of minor annoyances with plot devices knocked this one back a little for me.

For example, Willow is shown using an oxygen mask from the start of the film, so we know this is going to come into play later, but we are never told exactly what is wrong with her. Excitement seems to illicit the need for her to have oxygen, but running full pelt through the woods to follow her parents’ Land Rover seemingly does not. And when told the oxygen is low, and we are shown it is running out on more than one occasion, when it finally is empty, and Willow is in extreme danger… Imogen just gets another from the barn. It’s a Macguffin that feels tacked on, a convenient way to create plot progression just so it can be used at the end of the film.

Having said all that, I didn’t hate The Best Within and will always enjoy a werewolf movie. However, I think I would have been more disappointed to have paid to see this in the cinema, so streaming for a few quid feels like better value for money. Just be aware, this isn’t a werewolf gore fest, it’s more of a drama with a horror sub-text – but with added James Cosmo!

The Beast Within is available on Digital Platforms 19 August. Distributed by Signature Entertainment