As the trailer for the upcoming survival thriller starring Idris Elba suggested, trying to escape an angry and ferocious lion protecting its territory will be neither easy nor pretty. Now, with the MPAA officially giving the movie an R rating, we have an idea of just how ugly this story is going to get. The movie centers around a man who goes on a safari with his two daughters, but sees the journey turn into a nightmare as a huge lion starts stalking them.
The poster of the movie, which was released a couple of weeks ago, also suggested that it would be a violent story. The poster depicts Elba holding a bloody knife while deep cuts in his shoulder suggest he was mauled by the lion. The trailer also offered a glimpse of the feline antagonist tearing apart a group of people – but the violence was more implied than shown, as it's normal with trailers for general audiences. With the rating, we know that it won’t be an easy screening for those scared of wild animals’ attacks AKA everyone.
An R rating also indicates that movie director Baltasar Kormákur (2 Guns) was given carte blanche by Universal Studios to tell the story he wanted to tell and not worry about making it family-friendly: The attack of a violent lion isn’t exactly a story you’d expect to be blood-free, after all. According to FilmRatings, we can also expect to hear some not-so-mild language, which makes sense as we all go "holy shit" when the big lion comes into the screen. So, there will be blood. And guts. And limbs.
Unrelated to the R-rating but always fun to notice is that the title character of Beast is entirely made of CGI, and it looks so convincing that we can’t help but admire how far technology has come in creating digital creatures. Considering the release date, it wouldn’t be too surprising if we were looking at a possible nominee for the Special Effects category in next year’s Academy Awards.
Beast is written by Ryan Engle, who previously penned Rampage and Breaking In, which proves the screenwriter knows his way around predators and characters trapped in dangerous situations. Aside from Elba, the cast also features Iyana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries, Sharlto Copley, and Riley Keough.
Beast premieres in theaters on August 19.
You can watch the trailer below:
Check out the official synopsis here:
Dr. Nate Daniels, a recently widowed husband who returns to South Africa, where he first met his wife, on a long-planned trip with their daughters to a game reserve managed by Martin Battles, an old family friend and wildlife biologist. But what begins as a journey of healing jolts into a fearsome fight for survival when a lion, a survivor of blood-thirsty poachers who now sees all humans as the enemy, begins stalking them.