Often times I tend to stay away from reviewing shorts. In my experiences they are either a very gory experience or a very indie artistic experience; both of which typically leave me wondering if I’m too stupid to “get it.” When I do watch one that doesn’t make me feel like I have an IQ below 70, I find the brevity of the film makes it leave me writing a review along the lines of “me like short, it good, go watch now. Thankfully after watching The Beast I was only left with the task of trying to relay how surprisingly enjoyable it was while not sounding like a caveman.
The short immediately sets the scene and tension that will carry through for the entire length. This really allows for that tension to grow over and let me become emotionally invested in the characters. That is something that I believe most shorts try too hard to accomplish and in the process fail.
Michel (Bill Oberst Jr.) has a young song Jacob (Alexander Le Bas) who has the curse of the werewolf. They are out in a forest with Douglas (Pete Le Bas) setting up camp for the night. As can be expected there will be a full moon. As mentioned before no time is wasted as you are introduced to the struggle Michel has internally and the tension that exists with Douglas nearly simultaneously. As the night progresses and becomes closer to the full moon rising, the struggle and tension increases accordingly. This culminates in a climax that surprised me, not because of the outcome, but because I was surprised at how much I had been drawn into the short in such a short time. I couldn’t wait for the end to see how everything wrapped up.
For this I give the upmost credit to writer, director, producer and editor Peter Dukes. I can’t give him all the credit though as I believe if it weren’t for the acting this would have fell flat. Bill Oberst Jr. once again does another fantastic job. He was a great choice for a character that has to carry the short. Without strong performances by Alexander Le Bas and Pete Le Bas, however, it would have been much harder for Oberst Jr. to properly portray his external and internal struggles as they each play the counterpart to those struggles.
Rating: I highly recommend checking out “The Beast”, especially if you are a Bill Oberst Jr. fan. It is the most enjoyable short I have watched to date. (7/10)
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