Beast

Festival Favorites
D: Christoffer Boe; with Nicolas Bro, Marijana Jankovic, Nikolaj Lie Kaas

Marriage isn’t for sissies. You begin with lots of pumping hormones and glittery idealism, but a few years later, the goofy adoration can fade to indifference or worse, transform into utter hate. Danish director Boe’s film – made on a shoestring budget and shot quickly between other projects – explores the beast that lurks between the two emotional extremes. Bruno (Bro) wants to literally devour his wife Maxine (Jankovic) in order to truly bond with her. Maxine proclaims herself his willing victim early on, but soon the tables turn. There’s the affair, the clinginess, the thing that appears to be growing in Bruno’s stomach, the black goo that drips from Maxine’s womb. What is real? What is a dream? The viewer is left to decide. All we know for certain is that the cold, austere snow continues to flutter. Beautiful, evocative, and at times annoyingly arty in its approach, Beast digs its claws in and won’t be ignored.

Saturday, March 17, 12mid, Alamo Lamar

This article appears in March 16 • 2012.

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