Beast Beast
Vanishing Angle | Release Date: April 16, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
6
Mixed:
3
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
TheWrapYolanda MachadoJan 28, 2020
Though I have some reservations about a choice made towards the end of the film, everything else — from the cast to the documentary-style filmmaking to the varying perspectives of different characters from diverse backgrounds — is ambitious and intriguing. Read full review
72
Paste MagazineAdesola ThomasMay 3, 2021
Beast Beast is made with integrity and its narrative leverages violence in a way that simultaneously critiques and perpetuates said violence. The issue is not that the story doesn’t build to that place, but that it—like us—seems uncertain how to react to this fire once it’s been undeniably lit. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleApr 29, 2021
Youthful self-expression is a joyride in a minefield in Danny Madden’s Beast Beast, an adrenalized, tone-shifting indie bringing the technology-fueled lives of three suburban souls of varying circumstances, hopes and concerns into pathways destined to converge. Read full review
70
Film ThreatLorry KiktaJan 28, 2020
Beast Beast captures the high school experience like lightning in a bottle. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterBeandrea JulyJan 28, 2020
All three young actors who play the leads deliver solid performances that make them effortless tour guides through their intersecting stories. Read full review
67
IndieWireDavid EhrlichApr 15, 2021
If there is a valuable movie to be made in the wake of America’s most recent wave of mass shootings, Beast Beast offers only tantalizing hints of what it might look like. And yet Madden’s eye is nevertheless sharp enough to draw some blood; the kids are alright, they’ve just had the bad luck of being raised in a country that can’t seem to give a shit why so many of them don’t survive to become adults. Read full review
60
VarietyAmy NicholsonJan 28, 2020
Beast Beast’s plot twist is a swing at gravitas that disrupts the balance of Madden’s naturalistic character study. This is the way teen life is, Madden says, until suddenly the film accelerates from reality to sensationalism, and trades humanity for pulp. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerApr 22, 2021
The narrative trick that worked within the narrower confines of Krista seems almost absurd here, a leaden feel-good ending that sits at complete odds with the formless opening. Beast Beast is far better when it's abstract and observational, drifting somewhere between the wistful compassion of Jonah Hill's Mid90s and the sociological immediacy of Larry Clark's Kids. Read full review
42
The Film StageMatt CipollaJan 28, 2020
Beast Beast has no real drive to it, and it becomes especially apparent once something actually “happens.” Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonApr 16, 2021
The three leads do a good job creating their characters, with cinematographer Kristian Zuniga giving each of their tales a specific look and color scheme. But this also suffers from that indie fever where the camera and framing goes askew and "documentary style" for no reason except to distract you from how familiar the story is. Read full review
20
The GuardianPhuong LeApr 28, 2021
Revolving around of group of multi-ethnic Gen Z-ers in the American south, this message-heavy film tries hard to tackle urgent issues such as social media, familial conflicts and, above all, gun violence. The film only succeeds at peddling barely tolerable coming-of-age cliches. Read full review
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