The Beast Within Digital Review

3 star good looking and capable werewolf thriller.

The Beast Within is a 2024 British horror/thriller, co-written by Greer Ellison (Making a Killing, Butterfly Kisses) and Alexander J. Farrell (Refugee), a documentarian who also directs, making his first and very successful foray into narrative filmmaking with this lycanthropic tale.

It is available on Digital Platforms from 19th August 2024 courtesy of Signature Entertainment.

“What took you so long? I’m not going to keep watching this. Enough is enough.”

It’s 1965 in rural England and Willow (Caoilinn Springall – Stop Motion, The Midnight Sky) is a 10 year old girl living in a heavily fortified and remote homestead in the English countryside. She is a sickly child with respiratory issues who frequently requires oxygen and must have a cylinder with her at all time. She lives with her father Noah (Kit Harington – Game of Thrones, Eternals), mother Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings – NOS4A2, The Goldfinch) and maternal grandfather Waylon (James Cosmo – Estranged, We Still Kill the Old Way).

Even at her young age, she suspects there is something amiss with this existence, she is never allowed out after dark and Imogen and Waylon are extremely protective of her. On top of that, she often sees her mother and father head off into the forest at night with a pig in tow, her mother coming home exhausted and her father dazed and bloodied.

Although she loves her father very much, her life is changed forever when she makes the decision to follow them one night and discovers the horrible truth about her family and the curse which is upon them.

“Would you like to know what it is? It’s okay, you don’t need to be scared.”

The Beast Within is a well written film and a good idea for a story, although it wallows somewhat through the middle section. What really stands out are the acting performances which are all incredible. Caoilinn Springall is great as the precocious youngster, very believable and Kit Harington is genuinely scary as the unpredictable and abusive head of the household.

It is not really a horror film as such, nor is it really about lycanthropy, it’s more of a metaphor for domestic abuse and the way it is perceived and dealt with through the eyes of a child. Having said that, the werewolf looks pretty good and the mix of practical effects and CGI are effective. The wild landscapes and ancient structures in which it was filmed also lend a haunting grandeur to the proceedings, almost a character in their own right.

While this lacks the impact to make it truly memorable, it is nevertheless a good watch, with enough blood and gore for horror fans to enjoy, as well as a few jump scares and lots of naked Kit Harington (if you like that kind of thing). Well worth a watch.

“You’re grandfather Waylon is a good man. We don’t all get that lucky. I never met my grandfather. I heard the stories…”