A Time-Traveling, Dystopian Sci-Fi Romance Is The Wildest Movie You Didn't See Last Month
(Welcome to Under the Radar, a column where we spotlight specific movies, shows, trends, performances, or scenes that caught our eye and deserved more attention ... but otherwise flew under the radar. In this edition: the haunting genre-bender "The Beast," the farcical indie "Hundreds of Beavers," and HBO's "The Sympathizer" all stand out as clear highlights.)
Buckle up, folks: The theme of this month's edition of "Under the Radar" falls under the category of weird and wild.
More so than in previous years, this past April marked something of an awkward transition point in the overall release calendar. While Oscar season is well and truly behind us, the summer blockbuster season still remains a few weeks away from truly ramping up in earnest. Sure, the one-two punch of "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" and "Furiosa" technically kick off the festivities in short order, but June and July are when the real heavy-hitters — hello, "Inside Out 2" and "Deadpool & Wolverine" — enter the fray. That's not to say there's been any shortage of worthwhile movies, mind you, but also no unifying sense of direction between a crowded field of horror movies ("The First Omen," "Abigail"), mainstream genre offerings ("Monkey Man," "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," A24's "Civil War"), and even a surge in re-releases (Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy, "Alien," "The Mummy") all jockeying for position.
Thankfully, that's where some of the most surprising, refreshing, and downright wild offerings of this young year come in. From high-concept dramas skipping through time and past lives to low-budget slapstick comedies involving an invasion of beavers to a prestige HBO series featuring multiple Robert Downey, Jr. roles, April was a month for the freaks, weirdos, and misfits among us — in other words, the most interesting viewers of all.
The Beast
It's the year 2044 and artificial intelligence has completely taken over this dystopian future, dictating who gets what jobs and encouraging volunteers to "erase" their traumatic emotions from past lives in order to perform menial tasks completely unencumbered. Two individuals, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) and Louis (George MacKay), cross paths during this dehumanizing process and discover that they might share a much more powerful bond than they could've ever anticipated. Now, it's early 1900s France set in the midst of Parisian high society, where the same two characters embark on an irresistible (though forbidden) flirtation in which the eponymous "beast" first comes to light — a nagging feeling within Gabrielle of some foreboding sense of doom. Actually, it's 2014 Los Angeles, where Gabrielle's aspiring actress ends up on a collision course with Louis' terrifyingly unhinged incel.
None of these crisscrossing timelines might seem to have anything to do with one another at first blush, but the true genius behind French writer/director Bertrand Bonello's "The Beast" is how it plays out like a series of Russian nesting dolls. Separated by both time and space, the only moment these hidden memories actually come to light is when Gabrielle subjects herself to full-body immersion in some creepy-looking liquid (reminiscent, ironically enough, of Baron Harkonnen's oil baths in "Dune") as part of the erasure process. It soon becomes clear that she's unable or unwilling to purge herself entirely, holding onto her core identity as stubbornly as past Gabrielles clung to her own loves, fears, and ambitions that all end in tragedy.
Yet, overall, "The Beast" upends form, genre, and tone with an irresistible wit and humor that ultimately builds to the year's most unforgettable climax. Whatever you think this film may be about, think again.
"The Beast" is currently playing in theaters.
Hundreds of Beavers
In a landscape where jaded moviegoers routinely gripe about Hollywood's lack of creativity and originality, first-time director Mike Cheslik lets loose with a go-for-broke absurdity that would make even the decision-makers behind the "Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble" films blush at their own lack of imagination by comparison. Right from the moment "Hundreds of Beavers" opens with a prolonged musical number introducing us to "drunken applejack salesman" Jean Kayak (a fully committed Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, who also co-wrote the script with Cheslik), viewers know exactly the kind of film they're in for: a largely dialogue-free, black-and-white romp through the 19th Century North American frontier as the wayward survivor must turn into the best fur trapper the world has ever seen, all to prove his worth to the no-nonsense local supplier (known only as The Merchant, played by Doug Mancheski) and win over the heart of his mischievous daughter, The Furrier (Olivia Graves).
Somewhere in the middle of all this unfolds a hilariously circular plot involving — you guessed it — hundreds of beavers (featuring actors decked out in discount Halloween costumes, naturally) who are up to no good. Between rounding up the buck-toothed mammals, trapping animals for food before conniving raccoons can beat him to the punch, and dodging the ever-present threat of hungry wolves, Kayak might as well have the entire wilderness set against him. And that's without mentioning the part where Kayak is put on trial for crimes against beavers. Part Charlie Chaplin-esque farce and part send-up of classic Abbott and Costello routines, "Hundreds of Beavers" lives up to these lofty comparisons ... and then some. It's safe to say you've never seen a frontier movie quite like this.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is currently streaming on Fandor, screening in theaters nationwide, and available to rent or purchase on PVOD platforms.
The Sympathizer
In many ways, a series like "The Sympathizer" might as well be the reason why "Under the Radar" exists in the first place. Here's a show directed by the great South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, an adaptation of a Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnamese text, and starring Robert Downey, Jr. playing several different characters representing American bureaucracy ... and, somehow, it seems very few people who aren't chronically online even know it exists. Folks, this is nothing short of a tragedy in the making.
Luckily, the appeal of "The Sympathizer" practically speaks for itself. Viewers who tune in to the season will find themselves swept up in a snappy, engrossing, and visually spectacular feast for both the eyes and the mind. Set during the tail-end of the Vietnam War, the story follows half-French and half-Vietnamese spy The Captain (a simply stellar Hoa Xuande) who is compelled to flee his home country as American forces and the South Vietnamese evacuate a fallen Saigon. What nobody outside of his handler/childhood best friend Mẫn (Duy Nguyễn) knows, however, is that his true loyalties remain with the North Vietnamese Communists and the Viet Cong. Throughout the first few episodes, our Captain must navigate betraying his own comrades in order to maintain his cover, embarking upon his first kill, a seductive affair with his boss (Sandra Oh), and even infiltrating a Hollywood production — all while encountering increasingly unlikable Robert Downey, Jr.'s in various forms: a CIA operative, a wildly offensive professor, a Coppola-like filmmaking auteur, and many more.
Throughout The Captain's many misadventures, "The Sympathizer" plays fast and loose with perspective, unreliable narrators, and a healthy dollop of figurative storytelling — in short, this is grown-up entertainment at its best.
New episodes of "The Sympathizer" stream on Max every Sunday.