User Reviews

It's a regular American high school. Krista is fun-loving theater student. Adam loves guns and wants to do a YouTube channel. Nito is a nice skateboarder who is befriended by some petty delinquents.

The young cast grows on me. I really like Krista and Nito as characters. There is a simple reality and sweet charm to their relationship. Adam reminds me of Gus Van Sant's Elephant (2003) and that is a mixed blessing. In a way, his life is a matter of the audience's opinion. Ultimately, this movie may have a message but it's not for everyone. The last section with Krista is a little contrived. All in all, I do love Krista and Nito. I understand the idea of Adam. I love the reality of this world and it's never not compelling.

I am "old school" where content was about what was actually in it, not the quality of the message surrounding it. The buzz here is that Shirley Chen's natural exuberance highlights an authentic film about authentic teenagers, yada, yada. No, not really. Chen is hi-energy, but the director has her spending most of her time scrunching up her face. Not exactly Oscar material. The real giveaway however is the sound track which, for most of the film, plays ominous "clanging" noises in the background, the kind of noise you might expect in a horror film, not a teen drama. That's the key. All in all, just a big setup for a woke film on gun control, everything else is just window dressing.

A teen story with two subplots; a skater w/exceptional parkour skills is used by his friends to do some petty theft crimes. He also has a love interest in a drama student. This fills, often boringly, most of the movie. In the other main character we have a socially isolated, social-media, internet-posting, gun loving teen w/some family issues. His weapons & hunting prowess leads us to the climax.

Not a good flow to our storyline & ended up ff through a lot of it.

"Beast beast ready to act! Beast beast ready to act!"

Three interwoven stories of youth navigating identity, first love, petty crime, and gun violence in a Southern, American town. Brimming with energy and style, Beast Beast captures what it means to come of age in an era marked by technology and social media, where violent clashes awaken dormant passions and teenagers are faced with growing up all too quickly. This movie has fascinated me before I even had the chance to see it. Last year it premiered in the NEXT category at Sundance (that's a category where there's next level thinking or some unique approach that you wouldn't see in a typically movie if you don't know) and gained very mixed reviews over the controversial subject matter. Just this past week or so, it finally got a release date on Tubi which is a very abnormal place to stream a movie. I paid for it on a student discount, but had I not I don't think I would have ever remembered that it was a thing. Anyway, Beast Beast is definitely a unique movie. There's a lot of over stylization which gives it flare and something to remember. Sometimes it could be a bit much, but it caught my attention. The beginning had me for a bit. I wanted to know how these three characters would connect through the story, and also find out what the controversy was about. Shirley Chen plays Krista, and she is marvelous. For a very indie flick, that is some of the best casting right there and I would hope to see her in more. She's the core of the whole thing and almost too good for the movie. The others are good, but she stands out from the rest.

Going into the second act, it takes a more predictable turn. From there, it's easy to see what the key points will be. There's one scene that did take me by surprise even though I knew it was coming. The movie becomes rocky in pacing as well. For the most part I was entertained, but there are times that I spaced out of what was actually happening. As for the controversy, I can understand. Gun violence is a main topic throughout and it does have things to say, but it voices them in a manner that doesn't exactly work. At one point or more, there's almost a romanticism of it even though the message is against it. It's sort of offensive. Some won't see this and others will see this as downright offensive. I'm more in the middle because from what I saw it was fighting against itself to speak about it. The third act is a bit messy and feels almost abrupt. With the first two acts focusing its time on what it means to be a teen and having those experiences, the turn it takes messed up the pacing and the story. Danny Madden does have good skills going into the film. As a director and writer, he has a voice but it's conflicted with itself. One thing I will say is he worked on the editing which I found really good. Also, the sound design and music selection is very good. An interesting thing about the sound design plays into the title. For those who don't know, "Beast beast" is a theatre exercise to hype everyone up. They chant until it turns almost into absolute chaos, which is what the movie wants to do. I like the ideas brought to the table, but the execution didn't always work. Beast Beast is one that will be hard to forget and someday I may want to consider a second viewing to help me with my mixed feelings towards it.

This movie depicts an unpredictably developing story of lives of three young people which are looking for their place in the society. Avoiding any spoilers, I would say that plot is definitely not boring, but sometimes contains unnecessary details. The music is nice, but could be better; loud sounds during the movie make watcher either to use headphones in order to not to disturb everyone around either increase and decrease volume few times during the movie. Screenplay is well-done, but not exceptionally perfect.

As a result, overall impression is positive and I consider this picture as a reasonable candidate for watching at least once.

This film is dynamic, it's paced like teenage life and each of the three storylines feels unique. Some blemishes, but I can accept that as low-budget charm and would rather see that than some predictable, sterile storytelling. For a first time filmmaker this shows real promise. I LOVE Shirley Chen in the main role. Also Jose Angeles and Will Madden give grounded, emotional performances, and the sound design is something special (watch it with good headphones/nice speakers). This film hit me really hard; I can't explain it beyond that. Big thumbs up!

Beast Beast is a visceral experience from an exciting new voice in cinema. It's a gem of a film that grabs your attention from the exiting first shot to the cathartic last. Every few years a film comes along that speaks to the youth of today, Beast Beast is not just an exhilarating movie about high school but a deeper look into the American psyche.

It's at times deeply unnerving and other times exhilarating. Danny Madden has made a film that is atmospherically superb. The cast is all around excellent. You feel for these characters. Your emotions are earned. Don't miss it!

This is a first-time feature for the writer-director who had done 'shorts'. For a first-timer it is an excellent effort. When compared to more accomplished filmmakers it is certainly at least one notch down, maybe a couple of notches.

Generally about the Gen Z kids and their struggles coping with school and growing up, the most interesting character is a 24-yr old who has decided on a career making videos available online and getting revenue from the numbers of hits, 'likes', and advertising revenue. His subject is guns and calls his channel "Prime Shooter."

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. It has a raw realism to it and we often puzzled why some characters behaved the way they did. Overall a suitably interesting 85 minutes. Filmed mostly in Georgia, outside Atlanta.