Beast Beast

A conflicted work, but not without its merits, especially when it comes to Chen's performance.

All three young actors who play the leads deliver solid performances that make them effortless tour guides through their intersecting stories.

Even in the noir climax, "Beast Beast's" ideas about validation and integrity are worth a grapple.

The doc-style cinematography allows the camera to act as an undercover agent, going deep into Gen Z territory.

Danny Madden has delivered a strong indictment of the teenage experience in a film that should only grow esteem with age.

The main and secondary actors' naturalness... is essential. [Full review in Spanish]

Based on his own short film called Krista, it feels like Madden searched for a full-length plot to piece around the original short and it blurred the message along the way.

The way in which gun violence is used to propel the story and characters forward among all of this feels far too abrupt that the story and characters feel short changed in the end.

Though I agree with its politics, I cringe at its execution.

The pace is too zippy at its darkest moments, and when it tries to have capital-D drama, it ends up contrived at best and risible at worst. It's not a bad movie. It's an empty one.