Overview: Idris Elba stars in this pulse-pounding thriller as Dr. Nate Daniels, a recently widowed husband who returns to South Africa on a long-planned trip to a game reserve.

What begins as a journey of healing turns into a fearsome fight for survival as Dr. Daniels and his daughters find themselves hunted by a massive, rogue lion intent on proving that the savannah has but one apex predator.

Blu-ray Verdict: The newly-released Beast is a thriller that takes place deep in the Southern African Bushveld in northeastern South Africa.

In truth, this shown mixture of a family drama combined with an intense thriller that takes notes on illegal hunting and shows the hyper-violent instinct of lions when they lose members of their pride, is HIGHLY effective and thus generates the rightly-posed atmosphere one would expect to see on the screen.

A doctor takes his two daughters on safari in hopes of reconnecting with them. There are a lot of mixed emotions involved. Her father divorced her mother and she died shortly after from cancer. There are feelings of guilt on the part of the father and resentment coupled with unhealed emotional wounds in the daughters, who feel that their father abandoned their mother, and them, at a difficult time.

Right there, in unknown wild lands, the father will have the opportunity to unknowingly, unwittingly even, make amends ... and how! For they end up in the all-too-known scenario of wrong place, wrong time when they cross paths with a lion furious at the murder of his pack!

Between the attacks of the powerful beast and the desperate fight for survival, there are few and far between moments for them to become stronger and dissipate all the turbulence between father and daughters, but they still manage to bleed those through (the actors/characters) quite perfectly.

With a solid and enveloping rhythm coupled with strong, perhaps even remarkable CGI work, with regard the majestic cat attacks, Beast gives very brief pause to the characters as they undergo the onslaught of the titular character.

This subsequently leaves the viewer with an intense inner narrative to mull over, one in which what is being shown, the extreme situation therein, can lead absolutely anyone to face up to committing even the most unthinkable act(s) in the hopes of preserving the lives of those one cares for.

Indeed, the chemistry between the father (Idris Elba) and the daughters, as well as his friendship with his old acquaintance (Sharlto Copley), is done to perfection here, for it is both heartfelt and perfectly impassioned.

I mean, if you drop a group of characters in a situation like this and just have them fight to survive, it can be exciting, but it’s the moments in between where characters develop themselves for the audience that really shine for me.

I was happy to see that happen here and more than just a couple of times. And one top of Elba delivering his usually solid performance (for even if he is in a bad film, you can usually always count on him to be devoted to the role), I also thought his daughters, played very well by both Iyana Halley and Leah Jeffries, were highlights too.

Thus, and in conclusion, if you come away with the message that if we mess with nature, nature will mess with us, well done, you have seen the real message of the movie!

• DELETED SCENE – Watch an exclusive unreleased scene from Beast
• MAN VS. LION: THE FINAL BATTLE – Go inside the epic final battle between Nate and the beast himself as Director Baltasar Kormákur, star Idris Elba, and key members of the VFX team walk us through putting it all together
• CREATING THE BEAST – The vicious title character of Beast is no ordinary lion. He’s bigger, he’s meaner, and he’s got an axe to grind against humanity. Sit down with director Baltasar Kormákur as he explains what he envisioned for The Beast
• MAKING IT REAL: THE WOUNDS – Sit down with prosthetics supervisor Clinton Smith and prosthetic assistant Daleen Badenhorst as they walk us through all the gory details of creating realistic looking slices, gashes, and tears caused by a massive, predatory lion
• FILMING IN THE BEAST’S TERRITORY – Visit Limpopo South Africa where the cast and crew of BEAST travelled to capture all the vistas, planes, and mountains of Africa authentically on film
• FAMILY BOND: THE CAST OF THE BEAST – Meet the family at the heart of this story as director Baltasar Kormákur and cast members Idris Elba, Iyana Halley, and Leah Jeffries take us inside their characters’ journeys as they come together and heal in the direst of circumstances
• A LION’S PRIDE – Learn the tragic truth of lion poaching with this factual piece that takes viewers inside the fight to protect the big game of Africa.

From the director of Everest (Baltasar Kormáku), pulse-pounding BEAST follows recently widowed father Dr. Nate Samuels (Elba) who returns to South Africa with his two daughters Meredith (Iyana Halley; Wayward, “This Is Us”) and Norah (Leah Jeffries; “Rel,” Faith Under Fire) to visit an old friend, Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley; “Russian Doll,” Ted K) on a game reserve.

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