Beast
United International Pictures (UIP) | Release Date: August 19, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 46 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
25
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeAug 26, 2022
They don’t make them like this any more. To be fair, they never made them quite like this. Passes the time very nicely (and occasionally horribly). Read full review
60
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyAug 25, 2022
Beast represents the apex of low-expectation cinema. Read full review
60
Time OutHelen O'HaraAug 24, 2022
Kormákur creates some effective jump scares and considerable suspense as the lion stalks its prey with blood-chilling growls one minute and deadly silence the next. The CGI budget can’t always quite match his ambition, however, and perhaps as a result, his timing sometimes seems off. Read full review
60
EmpireJohn NugentAug 24, 2022
An old-fashioned, B-movie creature-feature with some CG gloss. Beast is as predictable as anything but it’s a fun, silly, well-made film about a man punching a big cat. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearAug 19, 2022
If you’ve ever wanted to the man formerly known as Stringer Bell cold-cock the King of the Jungle, Beast is the movie of your dreams. Take that specific wish-fulfillment out of the equation, and what you’re left with is just a modern variation on a 1970s animal-slasher flick. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyAug 18, 2022
Even if it takes itself a tad too seriously, it delivers enough nail-biting stress and terror to justify a trip to the multiplex for action-thriller fans. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeAug 18, 2022
August might be a washout so far for the industry but Beast couldn’t be arriving at a more apt time, a thrilling, if throwaway, reminder of the fun to be had while watching a B-movie bringing its A-game. Read full review
60
IGNTaylor LylesAug 18, 2022
While Beast certainly does little to innovate in the survival thriller genre, it does serve decent fun for fans that want to see Idris Elba fighting a giant, man-hunting lion. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattAug 19, 2022
It's August and we have Idris, Beast seems to say; do you really have anywhere better to be? Read full review
58
ColliderRoss BonaimeAug 18, 2022
Beast has its flaws and is mostly by-the-numbers, but if the idea of Idris Elba fighting a lion is something that is of interest to you, then Beast is going to deliver. Read full review
50
Little White LiesEsther RosenfieldAug 31, 2022
Beast doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to animal survival films, but it’s free enough of fat and frills to warrant a watch in the theatrical dog days of summer. Read full review
50
TimeStephanie ZacharekAug 19, 2022
In the end Beast is, frankly, sort of dumb. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedAug 19, 2022
OK, it’s an action thriller with a maximum of preposterous set-ups, fraught with a minimum of actual thrills. Lamely directed by Baltasar Kormakur, every scene is built on cinder blocks of tension, but the riotous screenplay is so silly and one-dimensional you find yourself laughing in spite of yourself. Read full review
50
ABC NewsPeter TraversAug 19, 2022
Think of it as Jaws on Safari and you'll have some idea what to expect from this generic thrill machine that requires Idris Elba to look great (he does) while doing battle with a digital lion. Read full review
50
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiAug 18, 2022
After some early thrills, director Baltasar Kormákur’s movie ceases to excite because the creature has no more surprises left. He just jumps through the window — again. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 18, 2022
Clocking in at just 93 minutes and yet still feeling a bit stretched out, “Beast” features a wonderful cast and some gorgeous location photography in South Africa, but the screenplay requires everyone in this story to behave like the dopiest characters in the schlockiest of horror B-movies. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonAug 18, 2022
Everest director Baltasar Kormakur crafts his man-versus-wild-animal drama with some niftily tense suspense sequences that split the difference between compelling and cheesy. But whether it’s the so-so CGI or the threadbare character development, Beast frustratingly refuses to aspire to be more than a competent, disposable actioner. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 18, 2022
The jump scares are genuinely jumpy, but the film plays out more like a theme park ride than a family drama with teeth. It’s pulse-pounding, in other words, from a cardiac perspective, but not especially engaging as a narrative, despite the earnest efforts of the cast to breathe life into a personal story arc that feels pasted onto another one. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisAug 18, 2022
The movie’s midsection, by far its most effective part, offers its share of heart-pounding moments. Read full review
50
SlashfilmJosh SpiegelAug 18, 2022
Beast is no great shakes, but it's also a rare enough summer movie, in that it knows its limits, it delivers on its specific promises, and it doesn't belabor the point. Read full review
50
IndieWireKate ErblandAug 18, 2022
You don’t need to be particularly clever to know how this will all end, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be so boring as it chugs toward cookie-cutter conclusions. Idris Elba fights a lion. It’s genius. So why does “Beast” feel more like a whisper than a roar? Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreAug 18, 2022
Beast is an over-the-top savage and sometimes head-slappingly silly animal attack thriller. Its artfully paranoid and claustrophobic, comically cuddly and pretty much begs the audience to shout at the screen. A lot. Read full review
40
NMERichard PhippenSep 3, 2022
Fortunately, Beast is silly enough – and brief enough at 93 minutes – to be a fun watch. Its schlocky B-movie plot moves quickly, largely because there’s hardly an inch of depth to it. Read full review
40
CineVueChristopher MachellAug 30, 2022
An entertaining-enough survival romp that at only 90 minutes long feels oddly slack. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleSarah JaneAug 22, 2022
At no point does Beast hide what it wants to accomplish. They made a movie that stars an actor everyone loves and pits him against a big-ass enraged lion. I mean, who doesn’t want to see Idris Elba punching lions? Read full review
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