The Beast Within Review: Allegoric Horror

Alexander J. Farrell’s The Beast Within is a moody, atmospheric horror that utilises tension and a terrific child performance to explore the impact of abuse.

It rather deftly uses tension and suspense in place of outright scares, and centres around a really effective child performance.

Willow (Caoilinn Springall) lives on a remote farm with her mother (Ashleigh Cummings, The Goldfinch), father (Kit Harrington, Game of Thrones) and grandfather (James Cosmo, My Sailor, My Love). In order to understand the true nature of their isolation, her father’s strange disappearances and the bruises on her mother, she follows her parents deep into the woods one night under the light of a full moon.  There, she witnesses her father undergo a terrifying transformation, and finds herself entangled in their family’s dark, generational secret.

The Beast Within sees its characters tiptoe, creep and skulk around both the creepy old house and the dreaded ‘W’ word. Despite some subtle – and not so subtle – references to potential lycanthropic secrets, Farrell, and co-writer Greer Taylor Ellison, understand the power of suggestion. Details are vague, arguments are muffled by closed doors, and darkness lurks in every corner of the creaky old house. The audience knows what Willow does, and the film is as shaky, unsure and tentative as she is as it moves through piecing together the truth.

It’s a film that utilises tension and suspense to create a feeling of unease, a feeling of walking on eggshells and waiting for the other shoe to drop. It doesn’t rely much on jump scares or gore, but rather the creeping sense of dread and threat of violence, even in the light of day. The rural isolation of their farm is emphasised without being overplayed for dramatic effect.  Miles of rolling, misty fields dwarf their lone, rugged jeep as Willow and her mother head to town, looking simultaneously foreboding and picturesque. The unreliability of her father’s violence is constantly present but never overused, for the consequences are as effective at showing its impact as the act itself. And the decision to limit dialogue – or obscure it entirely  – means that a lot of the audience’s understanding is reached by assumptions, as well as by what is visualised on screen.

Farrell, alongside sound designer Ben Chick and cinematographer Daniel Katz, creates a fitting mood for the film, atmospheric and intriguing, whilst avoiding the pitfalls of clichés and horror tropes. The Beast Within is sombre, unsettling and compelling, even if it does make its point a little too early (and, maybe unkindly, a little obviously). It also boasts some really impressive performances. Springall, in particular, is fantastically adept at showcasing the mix of childlike naivety and forced maturity that Willow struggles with as a result of her parents’ secrets. She acts as almost a symbol for the tension that permeates the house, tiptoeing down the stairs, hearing and seeing snippets of truth, before retreating into the safe space of childhood vulnerability and hiding under the bed.

Ashleigh Cummings’ role is a little bit more challenging, with her place as wife, mother and victim all vying for space as she navigates trying to keep Willow protected, but she’s very effective in it. Cosmo is a somewhat underused presence in the film, even if it does make sense to remove him since he almost radiates the words ‘safe’ and ‘space’.

Surprisingly though, so is Harrington. He’s intense and foreboding when needed, managing to convey the appropriate levels of fear and unpredictability as his temper flashes through, but him lingering like a threat off screen for a good chunk of the film means that the moments of connection – when he’s fun and light and caring – don’t necessarily land as well as they should. It feels a little jerky, tonally, and perhaps some more time spent with the three of them outside of the ‘full moon’ and fragmented flashbacks might have given the dynamic a little bit more depth.

Overall, though, The Beast Within is a really effective allegory for trauma and abuse, stylised by the trappings of the horror genre and made compelling by good performances and an intriguing script. Its reliance on suggestion might mean that the relationships are not always as fleshed out as they could be, but there’s enough here to get a sense of how violence, trauma and secrets can impact us, especially when we witness and experience them as children.

The Beast Within will be released in US theaters and in UK and Australian cinemas on July 26, 2024.