Time and time again, horror has returned to the fertile fields of werewolf lore to mine for narrative inspiration. With a natural duality baked into the mythology, werewolves act as a perfect vessel to explore stories of inner conflict, demons, or feelings. Such is the case with Alexander J. Farrell’s narrative feature debut, THE BEAST WITHIN. Ironically, the film itself embodies a rather frustrating duality by countering strong ideas, performances, and cinematography with unbalanced character development and an unnecessary lack of trust in audiences.
Making its World Premiere at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival, THE BEAST WITHIN centers around a young girl named Willow. Played by Caoilinn Springall (STOPMOTION), Willow is a creative and inquisitive kid with some sort of respiratory issue that requires the occasional use of an oxygen tank. Isolated on her family’s rural country estate, Willow can’t help but investigate the reasons behind her father Noah’s (Kit Harington) routine disappearances, her mother’s (Ashleigh Cummings) complicity, her grandfather’s (James Cosmo) frustration, and their general lack of transparency. However, the more Willow digs, the more dark family secrets claw their way up to the surface.
Beautifully presented, Willow and her family's world feels timeless and lightly fantastical. Shot on location at Harewood Castle, stunning landscapes, aged architecture, antiques, and a general lack of timestamped technology allow the film to exist in a time and space all its own. Further strengthened by Willow’s artistic endeavors and miniature recreations of her surroundings, THE BEAST WITHIN cleverly straddles the line between fairy tales and reality.
This conscious choice to create a world only slightly adjacent to ours carries exceptional weight when addressing the hairy, violent wolf-man in the room. As Noah, Harington nimbly switches from doting, loving dad mode to a more volatile, controlling patriarch. It’s a chilling performance that truly unsettles due to its sheer believability. Although, for being the film's main antagonist, there is a notable lack of screen time and some clunky character development choices. Flashback snippets of memories attempt to flesh out a family but inevitably fall flat and fail to instill any doubt surrounding Farrell’s thinly veiled use of the werewolf as a metaphor.
Co-written by Greer Taylor Ellison and Farrell, one of the most effective moves supporting this approach to lycanthropy is centering the film around Willow and her interactions with Noah, her grandpa, and her mom, Imogen. Everything we see and learn is through Willow, making her a highly sympathetic, if not unreliable, narrator. As Willow, Springall artfully conveys the complex waters of an abusive household. The same applies to Cummings as Imogen, a woman so deep into a horrible situation that she can’t yet admit that he will not change, and despite what the internet may say, she can’t change him.
Regarding the werewolf action we do get, THE BEAST WITHIN is wise to adopt a “less is more” mentality. Using a mix of practical and digital effects, the various stages of Noah’s transformations boast all the classic werewolf hallmarks. Patiently paced with its creature reveals, Farrell gives audiences just enough to build intrigue and ambiguity before finally allowing Noah to go full beast mode towards the end. However, whether by choice or necessity, many of the final creature moments are too dark to properly enjoy or clock what makes this particular werewolf unique.
Brutal in many senses, THE BEAST WITHIN tells an important story in a palpably authentic and effective way. Clearly material close to Farrell’s heart, a perceptible passion runs throughout the entire film. Everything from the thoughtful dialogue, stunning locations, strong performances, use of metaphor and fantasy elements support and strengthen the motivation at the heart of Ellison and Farrell’s script. However, just as the film squares up to deliver its final, devastating blow, it pulls its punches with a highly unnecessary final scene that undercuts everything previously worked so hard to establish. With a little more faith in its audience, THE BEAST WITHIN could have been great, but instead, it falls back towards the middle of the werewolf movie pack.
The 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival runs July 18 to August 4 in Montreal, Quebec, principally at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screenings at the Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. For more information, please visit the Fantasia website here.
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