The Beast

Gabrielle arrives at the purification centre as the AI-run program begins. She meets Louis, another candidate, and they feel an immediate, if uneasy, attraction. The process is pitched as emotional purification that could unlock better jobs, despite warnings about humanity's emotions.

During the first purification, Gabrielle is transported to a past life in 1910 France where she is a renowned pianist and runs a doll factory with her husband Georges. She recalls meeting Louis years earlier in Naples and is drawn to him even as she guards a lifelong fear of catastrophe. An uncanny medium guides the memories; tragedy looms as their lives intersect and threaten to unravel.

Gabrielle's closeness with Louis is tempered by her persistent fear of catastrophe, a fear that shadows her past and present. The relationship faces social and personal barriers, challenging her to balance emotion with duty. This tension foreshadows a dangerous outcome if their feelings ignite too strongly.

That night the doll factory floods and the dolls catch fire, unleashing chaos. Gabrielle and Louis struggle to escape through the flames and smoke. In the end, both drown as they fight to reach safety.

Back in 2044, Gabrielle runs into Louis at the club. He admits hesitancy about purification because it might erase his capacity to feel. They discuss delaying the procedure, but Gabrielle chooses to proceed regardless.

The second purification transports Gabrielle to a 2014 Los Angeles existence where she is an underemployed model and actress. Louis is a stalker-like incel who follows her, while memory returns via a virus-like popup of a medium. An earthquake disrupts the moment, and Gabrielle cries at the sight of Roy Orbison’s Evergreen on TV, hinting at buried fears and shared pasts.

Returning to the present, Gabrielle finds that Louis has vanished from the club. The Evergreen memory lingers, making her question what is real and whether Louis will reveal genuine feelings again.

The third purification revisits the 2014 narrative as Louis breaks into Gabrielle's Los Angeles home with a pistol to threaten revenge. She pleads with him to trust her and to mean no harm, while he wavers between love and hate. The moment cuts to him standing by the pool with the gun aimed at Gabrielle.

In the 2044 present, the AI announces that the purification has failed, a rarity affecting only about 0.7% of the population. Gabrielle remains stuck in her unfulfilling job, but she finds a sliver of hope by planning to meet Louis again at the club.

Gabrielle and Louis meet at the club and dance to Evergreen, signaling a strange continuity between their past and present lives. Louis reveals he has secured a job at the Ministry of Justice, and while he claims to still love Gabrielle, she realizes he can no longer feel love. She collapses to her knees in anguish at the revelation.

In a mid-credits moment, the medium calls out to 2014 Gabrielle not to go into the 2044 purification room, just before a gunshot rings out. The warning hints at a perilous loop that might still be avoidable.