Now Showing: Beasts

 

Beasts

Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Thriller

Director: Alfonso Cuaron

Writers: Jimmy Ellis & Chad Taylor

Produced by Hill Valley Entertainment

Cast: Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor-Joy, Adam Driver, Lee Pace, Christopher Abbott, Dev Patel, Tobey Maguire, Lauren Ridloff, Georgina Campbell, Patrick Stewart

Plot: Sombre songs fill the air as a village of people surround a wooden pyre, with four women singing behind it. A body lay on the pyre, and one by one, only the women of the village, walk to the pyre and place a piece of clean cloth onto the body. Una (Florence Pugh), a heavily pregnant woman climbs the steps with the help of one of her husbands, Kip (Christopher Abbott). Instead of a cloth she places an ornament next to the body. As the women continue walking, we can see that the later people are less well off, as they have less to offer. Val (Anya Taylor-Joy) walks to the stand with Sul (Dev Patel), their hands holding each other’s. As Val walks up the stairs, the hands separate. Val does not have much to give other than the hand-crafted jewel around her neck. She places it on the pyre and walks away. As we reach the end the singing stops. One of the women walk towards the pyre and lays on it with the dead. Another grabs a torch and lights the wooden pyre on fire, burning the dead, the giving’s and the alive woman.

These peoples live in a remote mountainous region where they operate on a collective farming basis. Because habitable land is limited, each family is allotted a certain amount of land and, in order to prevent overpopulation and overuse of their resources, they practice polyandry (one wife, multiple husbands). In terms of gathering meat, their main reliance is on the dog population in the region, who act as their hunters. For plants, the better your harvest, the more power you have in the tribe. Because they've gone so long without contacting another tribe, they do not have a name for themselves.

Tor (Lee Pace) and Mik (Collin Farrell) sit in the distance, watching these proceedings and eating some type of hallucinogen. They are Una's other two husbands alongside Kip. There is not much talk between the two of them. Tor breaks the silence by asking who he thinks is going to be the next pick to lead the tribe. Mik shrugs and asks who knows what is going on in the mind of the Soothsayer. Tor mutters to himself that he hopes it's not Una. Mik tells his fellow husband not to worry, they wouldn't kill the baby or anything. He makes a look as if he's unsure of his own answer.

The tribe members stay gathered as they wait in anticipation of some news. The Communicator (Lauren Ridloff), the messenger for the Soothsayer, emerges from a caved hut. She immediately begins signing the words from the spirits as delivered by the Soothsayer. Una, now reunited with all three of her husbands, whispers the words to Mik as he does not understand sign language. The Communicator begins that with the passing of Mum, the Soothsayer is to be granted a new wife. One that shall give their farms the best chance of growth and prosperity. She will not have the luxury of bearing children, nor will she practice polyandry as the other women in the tribe. The Communicator then announces that the new mother of the people is....Val. Una stops her whispered translation as she is shocked at the announcement of Val, her cousin, a peasant of the village. At the back of the gathering, Val stands in the arms of Sul, a look on her face of disbelief. She holds Sul tight as he does her before she is ripped from his arms by other villagers who take her to the front, cheering and rejoicing. She stands before the others, unsure. The Communicator puts her on her knees before slicing the throat of a goat, the blood sprays over Vul. The Communicator signs to the audience, “Mum" as the audience begins chanting it. Mik rolls his eyes and leaves.

Tor wakes in bed with Una. He walks toward the door of their hut and past Kip who is making Una some breakfast. Kip mentions that he heard some grumblings from the dogs last night. Tor mentions that he will check on it. Tor heads out the door and toward a fence, inside the fenced off area are 3 dogs, his hunting dogs. He lets them out and walks off into the forest. Mik comes from using the toilet, in his hand is a drinking horn, obviously inebriated still from the night before he tells Kip that he doesn’t think Val is right for their leader. Kip tells him to go cool off in the watering hole and go sleep, he knows Una does not like him when he has been drinking. Mik scoffs but does indeed do what Kip tells him. Una awakes and walks to Kip kissing him. He hands over the food, she sits down as Kip massages her shoulders.

Val returns to her hut under the guidance of The Communicator. She gathers some of her belongings, before saying goodbye to her home. Sul arrives and tries to talk to her, he is stopped by The Communicator but he pleads his case. Val tells The Communicator to leave them. She has no choice but to obey the Soothsayer’s wife. Sul hugs her and tells her that she need not do this. Val disagrees, with a tear coming from her eye, saying that she must, she must obey the Soothsayer, she wishes there was another way but there isn’t. She gives Sul a hug one last time before leaving. She walks past the inebriated Mik as he spits on the ground looking at her.

Tor returns from his hunt with the dogs, only finding one deer. He carries the deer into the marketplace and sells it to the butcher, while sending the dogs back home.

As the dogs return home, Kip is there to greet them. He sense something off with the dogs however as two begin growling at one another, something they haven’t done since pups. Kip places chunks of meat in a bowl for them, and the growling subsides. Perhaps they were just hungry?

Una meets with her midwife Nia (Georgina Campbell) at the designated spot for birthing. The two of them have been close since childhood. Nia checks on the progress of the baby and says that the pregnancy is progressing well. Nia says she is happy for Una but Una doesn't want to talk about herself, instead asking about Nia about her husbands and daughter. Their conversation is interrupted when a strange figure walks outside of their hut. The two of them look worryingly to each other and Una goes to get a closer look.

A man (Tobey Maguire) wanders down the path without any clear direction of where he's going. Nia looks to Una, who is telling her friend to leave it alone. But Nia decides to inquire and she asks the man what he is doing here. He gently apologizes and says he doesn't know where he is. She tells him that this tribe is not going to be accepting of an outsider so he should turn back. He apologizes again and says that he doesn't know where he came from. Or even who he is. Nia grows sympathetic upon hearing this. She deliberates what she should do as Una watches on nervously in the background. She eventually decides to bring him into the hut. She says that he should stay here and hopefully his memory will come back to him and he can return to where he came from. She reiterates that this must be kept a secret between the three of them.

Una walks back to her home, a little uneasy about what just occurred. When she arrives back to her home, Mik is passed out face-down in the front lawn. from inside, Tor is cleaning but looks out to Mik disapprovingly. When she enters, he mutters that Mik is an embarrassment to their entire family. Una asks what she wants him to do about it and tells him he should sort it out. Kip, who appears to be napping in the background, cracks a smile upon hearing her say that to Tor. Tor asks how the check-up with Nia went and she says the pregnancy appears to be on track. He smiles and kisses her forehead, saying that he looks forward to the joy it will bring to this family. As they hug, Una's smile shifts to a frown as she feels guilty about harboring a secret.

Val sits in a chair in what looks like a court. She is approached by The Communicator. The Communicator tells her that her cousins’ birth is going well. Val smiles. She then adds that Sul is still attempting to see her. Val asks whether there is anything against seeing a friend. The Communicator shakes her head but warns her against developing more feelings for Sul. Val says she knows her duties and takes them as serious as Mum did.

Una wakes up in the middle of the night with an intense pain in her stomach. She stands to walk out of the bedroom, stepping over a sleeping Mik on the floor. She walks toward the entryway and once more the pain happens, at this time the dogs begin growling and barking like crazy. Kip is woken up by the barks and heads out to quiet them down. He sees another dog out the front of their fencing and shoos it away. Two of the dogs turn to him and begin growling. He grabs some meat and throws it in there for them to eat, the growling subsides. He heads back inside and sits with Una. The two of them sit in silence for a moment before Kip asks what she is doing up. She says that the baby was kicking like crazy, she just couldn’t sleep. She then says that there is something else on her mind too. She tells him about the stranger Nia welcomed into the birthing hut today. He wonders why she would do such a thing; she knows the rules on outsiders. He says that the man must be taken to Val in the morning. Una agrees. Kip changes the subject telling her about the dogs acting up lately, they have been angry at each other and with him. He wonders why they start now when they have been good for the past 3 years. Una does not have an answer.

Tor awakens and Mik is at his side. Tor, unsettled by this, scrambles to find his knife but Mik tells him to relax. He's hear to deliver the news that Una's baby is Mik's. He laughs and says he's kidding. He came because he overheard Una talking to the youngest husband.

Sul wakes up in the morning to loud barking. He wanders out to find his dog destroying some of his plants--one of the few things he has to his name. As he goes to shoo them away, his foot gets caught in a divot and the dogs turn their attention to him. Their growling gets closer as hurries to free himself before finally doing so, grabbing a nearby scythe to diver them. He begins heading out to other settlements and finds that every dog in the tribe is acting this way and people are waking, afraid of what is happening.

Meanwhile, Una stealthily traverses the path before arriving at the birthing hut, only to discover that the stranger is not there. Her hands start to shake as this worries her. On her way back home, she finds people gathering at the tribe's meeting place. People are both angry and worried about the situation with the dogs and plants. Val emerges from her cave and realizes this is the first crisis on her hands in this role. Una stumbles through the crowd and finds Nia, asking if she did anything with the stranger. She shakes her head. Una says that he's not there. Val quiets the gathering crowd, who begin to murmur "mum" under their breath. She says that she and the Communicator will consult with the Soothsayer about this. The Communicator nods but, before they can leave, there is shouting in the distance.

Mik and Tor slowly walk towards the crowd dragging the stranger on the ground with them. He pleads for mercy as he does not know who he is or where he is from. The tribe immediately turns hostile towards this outsider while Nia tries to vouch for him. Kip makes his way to Una to escort her back to their hut, afraid that things could turn bad here. The crowd begins aggressively chanting "mum" and Val, totally flustered, leaves to see her husband.

In a chilled chamber within a cave, a man sits in the shadows. His breathing is audible. The Communicator guides Val to meet her husband for the first time. For the last forty years, the only people who have seen him are his previous wife and the Communicator. He emerges from the shadow and a chill is sent down Val's spine. The Soothsayer (Patrick Stewart) is missing part of his front cranium, with withered scar tissue where his eyes once were. He begins speaking a language that no one in the tribe can speak, although the Communicator can translate it. Val watches on edge as this process unfolds. After saying what he needed to say, the Soothsayer begins violently wailing. Val backs up against the cave wall, wondering if she is in danger. The Communicator leads her out and back towards the crowd.

The crowd eagerly anticipates the Soothsayer's message. The Communicator gives Val a look and, as she begins to sign, Val translates it in real time. The words together form a nonsensical sentence but Sul, watching on from the crowd, immediately recognizes this is a direct communication with the spirits. The stranger begins convulsing and Mik and Tor both let go. He begins to transform into a creature of some sort but Tor, not taking any chances, sticks his spear straight through the stranger's half-man-half-beast skull. "They're back," Sul mutters to himself. He keeps saying it getting louder and louder. The crowd are frantic and begin running, Val watches on. Mik and Tor look at the dead body, head morphed in between human and beast. They look to Sul who stares at the body. Val yells out for peace, for everyone to remain calm but she can not contain the chaos.

Sul retreats to his hut, finding his dog going crazy in its cage. He searches for books in the hut and comes across one, passed down from generation to generation.

Mik and Tor walk around the whole village and, upon seeing the dogs bark, begin grabbing them one by one and taking them into a fenced area.

Val returns to The Communicator, asking if they should seek The Soothsayer. The Communicator tells Val that he has done what he can, she is on her own. Val leaves The Communicator and immediately makes her way to Sul’s hut.

She stands in the doorway as Sul reads his texts. Val questions him startling him, “You know what this is?” He tells her, his mother read stories to him, a time when beasts roamed the lands. He tells her that there was a time when some humans partook in rituals. These rituals were deemed dark by many, after these rituals took place there were rumors. Rumors that these people could shift their bodies into that of a beast. He continues saying that these people were banished to the outer rim of civilisation. He thought that they were long extinct due to them only being able to conceive in beast form, but if today is anything to go by they could be roaming their lands as they speak. Val says she must tell the Soothsayer that they need the help of the spirits. Sul says that she came to him for a reason, she knows he can help, he may be one of the only ones that can. There is eye contact for a moment, and Val kisses Sul, despite knowing that she is linked to the Soothsayer.

At home, Una feels a sudden kick and then realizes she is going into labor. She begins hobbling her way to the birthing hut and tells Kip to retrieve Nia.

Meanwhile, Mik and Tor are out searching for Val, as they do not know what they should do with the dogs, disagreeing at every corner. The two of them spot Val walking from Sul’s hut. They approach her with Mik questioning her faithfulness to the Soothsayer. She says that Sul has some insight into the beast before asking what it is they want. They tell her they have gathered all the dogs and asks what they should do with them, kill them (Mik’s ideal outcome) or set them free in the forest (Tor’s ideal outcome), let the beasts run wild. Val looks to them both and decides: kill them. Tor protests, seeing as the dogs are key to the tribe's hunting methods. Val steps closer to Tor and whispers "these are no dogs".

At the birthing hut, Kip holds Una's hand as Nia helps Una through the process. She is in tears through the pain as she continues to push.

Mik runs to the fenced area and throws a flame into the pit. Tor opens a gate to let his three dogs run free, without Mik seeing him. The trapped dogs don’t even wince in pain, they just bark, and growl until there is silence. Mik and Tor look around at the village as silence fills the air.

Nia becomes worried that something might be going wrong so she requests that Kip whisper a lullaby to his wife. Una closes her eyes.

Hold tight, my dear

The dreams are on their way

Sleep not in fear

The dreams are on their way

To the moon, to the sun

To the spirits that we pray

Hold tight, my dear

The dreams are on their way

When Una opens her eyes, she finds Nia looking shocked. Kip lets go of his wife's hand and goes to see the baby. Nia backs away, now totally in shock as Kip steps up to finish the job and help pull the baby out of Una, who can still not see what is going on. She repeatedly asks for an update. The camera turns to show the head of a rabid canine emerging from Una. When Kip pulls the "baby" from his wife, he debates showing her but she demands to see it. He turns to reveal a malnourished beast in his arms that begins to growl.

Smoke still smolders over the village as Mik and Tor sit on the mountainside contemplating their actions. The eery silence is disrupted by repeated horrific screams from Una.

BEASTS