The Beast  – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

Acclaimed at the Venice Film Festival, a visionary film by the master of French cinema Bertrand Bonello, inspired by the famous novella by Henry James. It is 2044, humans are controlled by an artificial intelligence which, through the voice of Xavier Dolan, co-producer of the film, persuades Gabrielle (the phenomenal Léa Seydoux in several versions) to undergo a procedure that eliminates the strong emotions linking her to previous incarnations. We find her in 1910 in a Parisian palace, where she meets Louis, who, like X from Last Year at Marienbad, convinces her that they have met before.

So begins, in the spectacular form of a melodrama, science fiction, thriller and horror film, a breathtaking and surprising story of eternally unfulfilled love and fear that’s never been conquered. Visually extraordinary, Bonello’s film strives to burst the frames of the cinema screen, and the film experience itself.