The Beast Must Die

+ intro by critic, lecturer and programmer Geoff Andrew

Que la bête meure

A grieving father sets out to murder his son’s killer, only to find the moral ground constantly shifting beneath him.

  • Director

    Claude Chabrol

  • With

    Michel Duchaussoy, Jean Yanne, Caroline Cellier, Anouk Ferjac

  • France-Italy 1969. 113min

  • Digital (restoration)

  • English subtitles

A father whose son has been killed by a hit-and-run driver sets out to identify and murder the culprit, only to find the situation considerably more complicated than revenge usually allows. Cited by Bong Joon Ho as a key influence on his Oscar-winning Parasite, The Beast Must Die is a thriller that keeps pulling the moral rug from beneath audiences’ feet, leaving them, like its protagonist, in a place of deep discomfort.

Contains scenes of graphic violence or injury and suicide.

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Also available on BFI Player