Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) takes his two daughters to South Africa following their mother’s death in order to visit the village she grew up in. Their “uncle” Martin (Sharlto Copley) is a game warden and takes them out on a private safari where they find themselves hunted by a crazed lion whose pride was killed by poachers. 

Beast is a little bit silly but at just 93 minutes long it is sufficiently tense to make it worthwhile. 

The family drama plot revolves around the fact that Nate was separated from his wife before she died and his daughters do not believe he was there for her in her time of need. Nate clearly still loved her and has dreams of her that he wakes in a start from. It’s passable but not ground breaking or particularly interesting. 

There is also some information about poaching and anti-poachers who fight back in the conservation of animals. But again it’s all a little bit hard to take in a film where a lion has essentially gone a bit rogue because its pride was killed. 

What it does have going for it are its two leads, some decent animal effects and a bucket load of tension. Idris Elba’s top tv turns have never really turned into successful movie roles and whilst I am not going to argue that this is the turning point he does hold the screen well. The stand out, as is often the case in any film he appears in, is Sharlto Copley. For me he always has the right energy and charisma for the ‘rough and ready’ characters he plays. Whilst the film’s ability to turn a stranded truck into a tense safe haven is exemplary. 

If you fancy a tense survival thriller with no real discernible substance you could do a lot worse.