Critics reviews

Beast maintains... a compelling degree of sexual and psychological tension, for which its two lead performances – Buckley’s in particular – can claim much of the credit... Pearce revitalises [the film's basic set-up] with a bold treatment that plays with our expectations while relishing the feral undertones of the central relationship. On the strength of this debut, he’ll be a filmmaker to watch.

So restrained that it often comes off as coldly technical, Beast is most engaging when it lets loose and embraces Moll’s feverishness... The most memorable sequences in Beast may be its depictions of nightmares, confidently blocked in anxious handheld, but the film doesn’t twist itself enough for its images to ensnare the unconscious.

Strong performances push the story along; [Beast] is not so much about solving a mystery as it is about inner turmoil and the stories we tell ourselves, be they fairy tales or not.

The leads deliver affecting, nuanced performances, which gives heft to the psychological insights; Flynn is particularly good, creating a character at once charismatic and opaque.

Even if it has B-movie trappings and the tension wanes in the second half, [Beast is] a stylish psychodrama... The scenes between Moll and Pascal are electric, thanks to the beautifully calibrated performance of Jessie Buckley, who plays Moll with subtle shadings of innocence.

“Beast” walks the line between taut psychological thriller and doomed genre romance... It’s not easy to create such convincing moral ambiguity, and Moll’s ultimate dilemma is truly terrifying. “Beast” unearths the beast within, and churns out a violent conclusion that will shake you to the core.

"Beast" doesn't entirely hold together, but it's never less than fascinating to watch, mainly because it keeps so close to Moll's point of view, trapping us in her belljar. This is an extremely strong first feature from Pearce, and Buckley is riveting. You can't look away.

Pearce takes his time laying out his sleeping-with-the-enemy tale, but his stinginess with plot lends the film an vice-tightening air of mystery that suits it perfectly.

One of the virtues of “Beast” ...is its acute sensitivity to the painfully exposed nerve endings that no one but the sufferer notices... [Pearce] proves himself a solid craftsman, with a gift for giving even derivative story elements a nerve-jangling tweak.

Beast hurtles toward a climax that will finally establish which character is the bigger threat to the other. The principal narrative dilemma is that either outcome is likely to be less interesting than the tale's jittery setup.

[A] thrilling, unsettling debut feature... Stirring murder mystery, love story and psychodrama into a mesmerizing slurry, Mr. Pearce turns his native island of Jersey into a sunlit trap... This is lurid stuff, yet Mr. Pearce miraculously holds things together until the end.

Beast is a quiet sort of thriller, a dark and disquieting mystery... [that] simply proves too successful at capturing the listless ennui it’s depicting: This is what it’s like to be 27 and kind of a mess and totally sleepy and kind of miserable and suffering a headache and not sure who you are or who you should trust.