Admittedly, The Beast Within was a little hard to get into in the beginning. The trailer sold it as a spooky werewolf story wrapped up in the drama of a young daughter not knowing the family secret and a father’s love. Furthermore, it put Kit Harington’s character front and center as if he was the true lead of this story. But when you start watching, that’s not what you get. It wasn’t about Harington’s character being a werewolf or about wife Imogen (Ashleigh Cummings) and their daughter Willow (Caoilinn Springall). It wasn’t even about werewolves truly. It was about another monster sitting beneath the surface that was scarier.
That monster was domestic violence.
I felt like I was being pulled left and right in the beginning of The Beast Within. I could feel that there was something simmering beneath the surface and I couldn’t understand why. And I pinned it all on the fact that Noah was being led into the forest by Imogen to transform into a werewolf. And I pinned it all on Willow being angry that the secret was being kept from her, Imogen feeling like she was losing her family, and Noah feeling like he was losing control of his werewolf. This back and forth where I didn’t know who the monster really was, was a detriment to The Beast Within. But after I finished the movie and looked back on it all, I realized that the hints were there from the start.
From the very first 10 minutes, I saw that Willow, even though she didn’t know the full werewolf secret, had barricaded herself in the room. Imogen was wound up to the point where I didn’t realize she was a battered woman and dealing with two monsters in one body while still loving them, and Noah…there was this undercurrent of jealousy and control that skeeved me out. And I think that the movie purposefully tried to distract me with the werewolf story as if that was the scariest thing they were dealing with. It wasn’t. Noah as a human was way scarier to Imogen and Willow. They lived with the fear of him being a werewolf during the full moon. But they lived with the fear of him being a man 24/7.
There are some that will question why Imogen didn’t leave. That’s on par with every domestic violence survivor. Why didn’t she prepare more when it came to Noah, especially when he transformed into a werewolf? Why didn’t she tell her dad Waylon (James Cosmo) so they could find an escape route? Why, why, why? It all comes down to the fact that love is complex. And creating an escape plan or preparing for the worst, whether it be the werewolf version of Noah or not, means admitting there is a problem. And when you’re in those situations, ignorance brings you peace. You figure that the good outweighs the bad and that this is just a bump in the road. But her husband being a werewolf was a bump in the road. Him being violent with Imogen in front of their child was not.
Everything really comes crashing together in The Beast Within when we reach the final showdown between Noah, Imogen, and Willow. Looking through reviews I was a little confused as to whether the final vision that Willow had of her father as a human, was real. Some people think it was her imagination or maybe there wasn’t a werewolf at all and it was just Noah. But if we look back at the final showdown, when Willow lights the werewolf version that we see, his screams are not of an animal. His screams are of a man. Meaning, Imogen brought him back from his werewolf state. And as a human he hit her. He hit his wife. And Willow wasn’t going to risk her mother’s life at such a terrifying moment. So Willow killed him to save her mother from the real monster that had plagued their lives.
Ultimately, I appreciate the risks The Beast Within took and how it told an intimate human story within the scope of a supernatural horror. It shook me that the monster at the end of it all was simply a man. That’s more terrifying than a werewolf any day. And sure, I was quite annoyed with Willow in the beginning because I didn’t understand her frustration outside of “oh she’s a young typical teen” and I could have used a little bit more dialogue. But I can understand being a kid and not understanding what’s going on. I also understand making yourself smaller and keeping quiet like Imogen and Willow did to make sure the beast in your life won’t lash out and cut you down.
And while I hope more people give this movie a chance, I do worry about promotional material not being upfront about this being a domestic violence story. It’s not on the scale of It Ends with Us in hiding its true nature. But it could throw a viewer off, who just wanted to escape from the real world to only realize the real monster is man.
The Beast Within is now available to rent/buy on digital.
