Few stories have been adapted and restaged as much as fairytales. The most recent round includes this year’s The Little Mermaid, the live-action Snow White movie coming in 2024, and writer/director Max Gold’s horror reinterpretation, Belle. But while Belle promises a dark twist on the old tale of Beauty and the Beast, its muddled genre and aimless characters may disappoint fans of the source material.
On a small farm in Iceland, Belle (Snædal) works constantly for her sick father (Thorvaldsson). His only hope is a magical healing rose guarded by a fearsome Beast (Hilmarsson), but the men sent to retrieve it return empty-handed or not at all. Frustrated with farm work and her father’s attempts to marry her off, Belle goes to ask for the rose herself and finds the Beast gentle and generous, despite his murderous tendencies. She takes the rose, but there’s a catch: her father will not recover unless Belle stays permanently with the Beast. Driven by a combination of desire for independence and love for her father, she agrees and attempts to find a way out for herself and the Beast.
Gold and cinematographer Nico Navia add visual interest to scenes with the help of striking Icelandic landscapes, which provide a contrasting backdrop to the French pastoral scenery of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Jean Cocteau’s La belle et la bete. The film’s color grading, though excessively gray, picks up blood-red nicely and accentuates the occasional violence. The camera also assists suspenseful scenes, crowding in on Snædal as she trembles, and stalking characters on tense treks across the fjords.
Gold’s plot tends to bumble through familiar story beats, leaving out vital information while leaving in unnecessary scenes. Some edits to the traditional structure are interesting, such as the decision to give the Beast uncontrollable fits of bloodlust rather than permanent monstrosity. Yet most changes come at the cost of the characters. Belle’s motivation doesn’t survive her father’s switch from adoring parent to codependent captor, and the shallowly feminist justification that she’s becoming a prisoner by her own, empowered choice falls flat. The Beast fares no better; his monstrous side is barely frightening, and his gentleness comes off as oafish rather than charming.
Though Belle is marketed as fantasy horror, the exposition is far too thin to transport viewers to another world, and its moments of suspense are generally toothless. At times, it is more of a clunky romantic comedy, such as when Belle and the Beast get mismatched relationship advice from a housewife and her husband. (“There’s this one thing he does,” Belle starts, referring to the Beast’s fits of flesh-eating. “Only one thing? I hope it stays that way,” exclaims the housewife.) These attempts at levity would be more fun if Belle fully committed to the campy horror angle, complete with sentient, blood-stained candelabras and wardrobes. Instead, it pulls its punches, unsure of its message and its genre.
Belle is available on VOD Aug. 22.
This article appears in August 18 • 2023.