THE BEAST WITHIN (2024)
Label: Well Go USA
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 97 Minutes 19 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Alexander J. Farrell
Cast: Kit Harington, Ashleigh Cummings, Caoilinn Springall, James Cosmo
The Beast Within (2024) is the narrative directorial debut of filmmaker Alexander J. Farrell (Refugee), set in and around Harewood Woods and Castle in West Yorkshire, UK the film has an dark fairytale setting, a werewolf tale told from the perspective of 10-year-old Willow (Caoilinn Springall, Stopmotion), a young girl with an unexplained respiratory illness that requires she have a tank of oxygen nearby at all times, and who spends most of her time secluded in her room. She lives with her mother Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings, NOS4A2) and grandfather Waylon (James Cosmo, Highlander), as well as her estranged father Noah (Kit Harrington, Game of Thrones), who is not seen a lot initially but when we do see him he seems to be near naked and donning a fur-skin coat as he is being driven away someplace a couple of days out of the month. He also seems to be suffering some sort of an illness and is often locked away behind closed doors, making young Willow curious about her father and why he is being taken away, so much so that one night she follows her mother and father into the ancient woods and into the belly of the ruins of a nearby castle, where she spies her mother shackling him with chains, just before he transform into a wild beast, and now with that known the film follows as she and her mother attempt to deal with his transformations.
What we end up with is an interesting dark fairytale that is a werewolf flick as metaphor for an abusive relationship, it tells a very human story wrapped up in an almost fairytale like veneer, the rural setting and castle locations are gorgeous, and it really does set a specific dark fantasy vibe that I quite dug. The acting is top-notch, everyone one excels in their roles, but the werewolf is too little glimpsed, though when we do finally get a good look at it towards the end I thought the design and execution of it was quite good, but it's too little seen for my tastes. Even still, the human drama of the flick kept me intrigued even though the storytelling feels veiled and overly ambiguous, especially starting out. I wasn't quite sure where it was going, which is sometimes a good thing, and I think that Harrington is too little used, but what we do get paints a picture of a man whose inner beast is destroying his family. I do feel the whole monster as metaphor could have been better realized, and the finale that throws into question all that came before it was rather disappointing for me, I quite disliked it. Even though I feel it doesn't quite land it didn't ruin it for me, there's some compelling performances, and some decent if sparse werewolf thrills to be had, but it's uneven and didn't deliver the werewolf carnage I was looking for, but it's still an interesting if ultimately flawed werewolf entry that at least set out to do something different with the sub-genre.
Audio/Video: The Beast Within (2024) arrives on Blu-ray from Well Go USA, the 1080p presentation looks solid, the moody visuals set in the rural countryside is detailed and textured, colors look good, and black levels are pleasing. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional English subtitles, likewise it's solid, the atmospheric score sounds terrific, dialogue is clear, no issues with distortion.
Special Features:
- Well Go USA Trailers: The Beast Within (2:11), Before Dawn (2:08), Ride (2:19), Sting (2:30)
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Well Go USA Blu-ray Screenshots:
