The Beast

The Beast

Year: 2024

Runtime: 2 h 26 m

Language: French

Director: Bertrand Bonello

Echo Score: 73
DramaRomanceSci-FiThriller

In a future world set in 2044 where emotions have faded and become a forgotten concept, Gabrielle, portrayed by Léa Seydoux, seeks a way to cope with her past traumas. She finds herself drawn to Louis, played by George MacKay, who repeatedly reincarnates, and Gabrielle consistently falls in love with each new iteration. The film explores themes of memory, loss, and the enduring human need for connection in a society that has suppressed its feelings.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – The Beast (2024)

Explore the full timeline and setting of The Beast (2024). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

2044, 1910, 2014

Action principally occurs in 2044, a world ruled by AI and automated purification processes. It also visits Gabrielle's past lives: 1910 France at a doll factory and salon, and 2014 Los Angeles as a struggling model-actor. These eras are experienced as memories during purification, blending timelines into a single narrative arc. Naples appears as a backdrop to a past meeting that shaped their fears.

Location

2044 world, Purification Centre, Naples, 1910 France, Los Angeles (2014), mysterious nightclub

The film unfolds across a near-future global setting in 2044, centering on a high-tech purification centre and a nightclub that shifts through decades. Flashbacks take Gabrielle into past lives in 1910 France and 2014 Los Angeles, with Naples as a memory of a prior meeting. The settings juxtapose sterile purification technology with intimate, emotionally charged spaces—salons, factories, and lavish homes—where human fears and memories persist.

🌐 Futuristic 🗺️ Global 🏛️ Dystopian 🌃 Nightlife

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 20:00

Main Characters – The Beast (2024)

Meet the key characters of The Beast (2024), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Gabrielle Monnier

In 2044, Gabrielle is a purification candidate who confronts both the promise of a better life and the danger of losing her emotions. Her lifelong fear of catastrophe drives her, and her bond with Louis becomes a fragile counterpoint to the system that seeks to control feeling and identity.

💖 Romance 🧭 Identity 🧠 Memory 🧬 Purification

Louis Lewanski

A fellow purification candidate, Louis is drawn to Gabrielle but struggles with the impulse to love while fearing that purification will strip away his capacity to feel. His past-life echoes across eras, revealing a complex mix of affection, resentment, and longing.

💗 Love 🧭 Identity 🧠 Memory 🧬 Purification

Kelly (the android)

An android monitor who escorts Gabrielle to the nightclub and observes her purification progress. Calm and enigmatic, Kelly maintains distance while guiding the protagonist through the club’s shifting decadal themes.

🤖 AI 🗺️ Monitoring 🕹️ Techno-dystopia

Georges

Gabrielle's past-life husband in 1910 France; a doll-maker and factory owner. The factory flood and resulting fire reveal the perilous intersection of art, industry, and catastrophe, ending Gabrielle and Georges’ first life together.

🧰 Industry 🎭 Art 💔 Tragedy

La voyante

The medium who appears uncannily accurate in multiple sessions, guiding Gabrielle through glimpses of past lives and hinting at deeper forces shaping her fate.

🔮 Fortune 🪄 Mystery 🧭 Guidance

L'architecte

The architect whose lavish Los Angeles home Gabrielle house-sits in 2014, framing the aspirational surface of the city against the vulnerabilities revealed by her past lives.

🏢 Architecture 🏙️ LA 🕰️ Prestige

Femme bal 1910 (Céline Carrère)

A dancer in the 1910 ball scene, part of the salon where Gabrielle encounters Louis and the shadows of the past linger.

💃 Dance 👗 Fashion 🕰️ Ball

Femme bal 1910 (Hortense Gélinet)

Another ball attendee in 1910 France; one of the social circles that frames Gabrielle’s memory of that era.

💃 Dance 👗 Fashion 🕰️ Ball

Femme bal 1910 (Pauline Jacquard)

Ball participant in 1910, encapsulating the era's social life and Gabrielle’s entangled past with Georges and Louis.

💃 Dance 👗 Fashion 🕰️ Ball

Femme bal 1910 (Alice Barnole)

Ball attendee in 1910 France; part of the salon atmosphere that foreshadows Gabrielle's fated meeting with Louis.

💃 Dance 👗 Fashion 🕰️ Ball

Le barman club

Barman at the club where the decades collide, adding atmosphere to the 1960s-1980s themed sequences and the ongoing tension around emotion and memory.

🍸 Bar 🎵 Club 🕰️ Decades

Femme clubs

Club attendees who populate the dynamic nightlife that Gabrielle visits in the central present, illustrating the social side of the purification-era world.

💃 Nightlife 🕺 Social 🎭 Performance

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 20:00

Major Themes – The Beast (2024)

Explore the central themes of The Beast (2024), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🧭 Identity, Purification

The film probes what remains of a person once emotions are supposedly removed. Purification promises efficiency and social advancement, but it risks erasing core human traits that define choice and connection. Gabrielle and Louis confront whether memory and feeling can be reduced to data without destroying the self. The tension between rational control and emotional depth drives the narrative.

🪞 Memory, Past

Past lives serve as a mirror for present behavior, suggesting identity is a tapestry woven from multiple histories. The uncannily accurate medium and viral form keep these memories vivid, blurring lines between actual events and dreams. The memories across 1910 and 2014 reveal recurring fears and desires that outlive the purification process. The film uses memory as both a refuge and a weapon.

🎶 Romance, Longing

Gabrielle and Louis form a charged connection that defies the cold logic of the purification regime. Their bond traverses time, yet the system threatens to sever the emotional ties that bind them. The recurring song Evergreen anchors their shared memories, intensifying longing and tragedy. The romance exposes how desire can endure even when the capacity to feel is in question.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 20:00

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Tragic Sci-Fi Romances Across Time like The Beast

Epic love stories haunted by destiny and technological control.For viewers seeking movies like The Beast, this thread features complex sci-fi dramas where romance is intertwined with themes of reincarnation, memory, and technological control. These stories share a melancholic, heavy emotional weight and explore love as a force that defies time and societal constraints.

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Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread typically follow characters whose love is bound by fate, looping through different eras or realities. The central conflict often involves an external force—like a dystopian society or the mechanics of reincarnation—that threatens to erase or control their connection, leading to a journey of rediscovery and often a bittersweet resolution.

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These films are grouped by their unique blend of high-concept science fiction with deeply tragic romantic cores. They share a specific mood of haunting melancholy, an oppressive atmosphere, and a narrative complexity that examines the endurance of love against immense, often existential, obstacles.

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Stories set in futures where human feeling is a threat.If you liked the premise of The Beast, this thread collects movies about futures where emotions are suppressed or erased. These dystopian dramas explore the heavy psychological toll of living in a emotionally controlled society and the characters who struggle to reclaim their humanity.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a protagonist living in a emotionally sanitized or controlled future who is confronted with a catalyst—a person, a memory, or an event—that awakens long-buried feelings. This leads to a internal and external conflict as they navigate the dangers of feeling in a world that sees emotion as a flaw or a threat.

Why These Movies?

These movies share a very specific dystopian vibe defined by an oppressive, anxious atmosphere and a central theme of emotional suppression. They are united by a melancholic tone, high emotional intensity, and a focus on the existential crisis of losing one's own feelings or memories.

Unlock the Full Story of The Beast

Don't stop at just watching — explore The Beast in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what The Beast is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

The Beast Summary

Read a complete plot summary of The Beast, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

The Beast Summary

The Beast Timeline

Track the full timeline of The Beast with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

The Beast Timeline

The Beast Ending Explained

What really happened at the end of The Beast? This detailed ending explained page breaks down final scenes, hidden clues, and alternate interpretations with expert analysis and viewer theories.

The Beast Ending Explained

The Beast Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of The Beast that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

The Beast Spoiler-Free Summary

More About The Beast

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about The Beast: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About The Beast

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