Tenth feature film by Bertrand Bonello (The pornographer, The Apollonides: memories of the brothel), The beastwhose scenario is very freely inspired by The beast in the junglea short story by Henry James, tells a tragic love story in three eras.
Paris, 2044, more than 60% of French people are unemployed because of artificial intelligence. In order to find a job, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) must free herself from her affects by purifying her DNA as a man’s voice explains to her during the interview (Xavier Dolan, co-producer of the film with Nancy Grant). During the process, during which she relives parts of her past lives, she meets Louis (George MacKay), who has been her true love more than once.
Los Angeles, 2014, Gabrielle (Seydoux), an actress looking for a role, meets Louis (MacKay), an involuntary bachelor, who is lurking around the residence she is responsible for guarding. Every time she hears Evergreenby Roy Orbison, she bursts into tears.
Paris, 1910, shortly before the flood, Gabrielle (Seydoux), a famous pianist married to a rich doll maker, meets Louis (MacKay), a gentleman she met in Naples a few years earlier. She confides to him that she is haunted by a bad feeling, and he suggests that she consult a psychic (Elina Löwensohn).
In addition to the recurring presence of the lovers, who remain cold and distant thanks to the acting, the eras are linked together by different motifs, which add to the mystery and charm of this hypnotic anticipation film. From one story to another, we find a doll, including the Kelly doll from 2044 (Guslagie Malanda), a sort of double of Gabrielle, a pigeon announcing a disastrous event, and a clairvoyant, whose cryptic words remain obscure for the heroine.
For each era, the director, who with Anna Bonello offers a chilling soundtrack, composes very distinct universes where the strength of emotions diminishes over time, where the aesthetic goes from warm opulence to the strictest minimalism. As director of photography, Quebecer Josée Deshaies perfectly highlights the plasticity of the places and the actors, particularly in the 1910 painting, shot in 35 mm, where Léa Seydoux appears, like a Proustian heroine in a Fortuny dress, in all her splendor. . Bertrand Bonello’s faithful collaborator also creates an aquatic sequence of great beauty.
Having wanted to deliver “a plea to stay alive”, the filmmaker offers a reflection on the impact of artificial intelligence in human relationships where, to better convince, the cerebral boldly prevails over the sentimental. At the very end, Bertrand Bonello even dares to deprive the viewer of the credits, only available in QR code. It’s up to the latter to choose to read it or not (and discover a short, powerful scene).
Indoors
Science fiction
The beast
Bertrand Bonello
Léa Seydoux, George MacKay, Elina Löwensohn
2:26 a.m.