Reality creates the scariest monsters. Villains from some of the best horror franchiseslike Freddy Krueger, Norman Bates, and even Leatherface, have real origins, and they’re frightening because of the levels of absurdity added on top of the depth and discomfort provided by the truths of their backstory. Perhaps the most deadly threats are your neighbors, and Kit Harington‘SThe beast within emphasizes this concept of a monster lurking nearby with its end.
The beast within With Harington, Caoilinn Springall, Ashleigh Cummings and James Cosmo. The film follows 10-year-old Willow (Springall) as she tries to understand the strange events surrounding her father Noah (Harington).
The movie was not a favorite of critics upon release, but I found it to be a layered exploration of the many ideologies that monsters can display, and The beast within The ending transforms the story into a more complex tale of domesticity and deception.
Warning: The Beast Within spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.
(Image credit: Well Go USA Entertainment)
What happened at the end of the beast within
Waylon (Cosmo) stays behind and closes the farm gate so Willow and Imogen (Cummings) can escape, and they reach the forest. However, while looking for a safe path, a werewolf version of Noah picks up Willow and carries her to his hideout, and Imogen begs him to release her.
She hugs the wolf and tries to calm Noah down so Willow can get to safety. However, he suddenly becomes the dangerous wolf again and attacks Imogen, while also accidentally knocking over a lantern which causes a fire.
Willow uses her oxygen tank to set Noah on fire, and some time later, as Imogen and Willow prepare to leave their house, Willow flashes back to memories of Noah. It shows a different outcome than the one we see, and instead of a werewolf, Noah is just a normal guy who attacks Imogen while Willow watches in tears. He calls her ‘little monster’, after which both the memory and the film itself end.
(Image credit: Well Go USA Entertainment)
The reality of what happened at the end
Willow’s flashbacks confirm that Noah is indeed not a werewolf, and that the monster is a projection from her imagination to cope with her father’s abuse. By means of The beast withinindicate numerous signs that Noah has been physically and emotionally abusive towards Imogen. As such, the film does not run alongside the others films with a stunning endingas its reveal had been foreshadowed all along.
We see some verbal altercations and also Imogen’s bruises. She also seems sore and shaken when she returns from some time alone with him. Even earlier The beast within At the end of the reveal, a few key scenes paint the picture of domestic violence.
A key example occurs when Imogen secretly wears a beautiful dress, hidden in her car. This seems unusual, but then it’s accompanied by Willow looking at her mother and noticing bruises. Come in later The beast within, the dress returns as something that triggers Noah. From Willow’s room you hear him yelling at Imogen about it.
He accuses her of seeing someone and keeping secrets. He also thinks she is planning to leave him. You even hear him apologize as if he just hit her. The scene with the dress also shows Noah’s duality. One moment he’s a loving father to Willow, the next he’s pushing a sandwich out of her hand and telling her to shut up.
Willow’s fantasies transform Noah into a physical beast, a werewolf. In reality, he is an abusive father. The beast within further confirms that Noah is not a real werewolf by having Willow read “White Fang” by Jack London, implying that her imagination helps create this werewolf version of Noah.
We don’t know precisely what happened that night, but we can make assumptions. Noah probably returned home angry. It got so bad that Waylon and Imogen were afraid he would kill them and Willow. They tried to escape, but this led to him beating Imogen so badly that Willow then had to probably kill him it to keep Imogen alive. .
The nights Noah leaves may be nights where he gets drunk and his anger and rage become so bad that they have to keep him away. There is also some implication that he harms or kills animals to deal with his anger.
The final image of Noah makes him appear drunk, and alcoholism may indeed be part of his illness and monster transformation. However, alcohol cannot be solely to blame for Noah’s anger and rage, as we hear and see him become violent and angry when he appears completely sober. (As revealed through flashbacks and glimpses of his true nature.)
(Image credit: Well Go USA Entertainment)
The importance of Willow’s perspective
The film takes place through Willow’s eyes, and viewers are automatically confused. We only know as much as Willow knows. She doesn’t know the whole truth. All the adults in her life work hard to protect her from the reality of the situation. This means that we, the audience, view things through the haze of a child’s perspective.
Early in The beast withinwe learn that Willow has an active imagination. She is often seen reading and playing with her house toy statue. Her imagination helps her create this fantastic view of her world. Her father is not this abusive man, but this man who is the victim of this beast, the werewolf that lives inside him. Willow only stops pretending after everything has happened, and she can no longer escape the reality of her father’s abuse and cruelty. Her imagination cannot protect her from this reality.
The beast within works because it is told from Willow’s perspective. This helps blend reality and fantasy. We never know what is real because Willow doesn’t understand things and sometimes misinterprets them.
Imogen and Noah saying, “Nothing changes,” is originally seen as a gesture of love because that’s how Willow sees it. However; it’s really a way for Noah to control Imogen by getting her to agree not to leave him.
In an interview with An eye for film, The beast within director Alexander J. Farrell mentions how the imagination (the viewers and Willow’s) plays a huge role in creating this horror story.
And that’s why we didn’t want to reveal the monster until the end, because the imagination is much more powerful than anything we could create. So a lot of this movie is left to the imagination and a lot of it is interpretation, especially for Willow, and that’s where the horror lies in this movie.
Willow is also clearly a scared child, so her fear rubs off on the viewers. We’re always uncomfortable because she is too. We don’t know who to trust because she doesn’t. Her perspective enhances the tension of the film.
(Image credit: Well Go USA Entertainment)
The theme Caught in the beast within
Every character in it The beast within is imprisoned. Waylon is trapped because he cannot manage to get his daughter out of her abusive situation. That’s why he’s stuck in it to protect her. Imogen cannot leave Noah, perhaps out of fear or misplaced loyalty and love for him. Willow is stuck in this house with her parents and also has some restrictions due to her health condition.
Noah is trapped by a beast that lives inside him. He knows he’s a monster, but he can’t seem to stop himself or find the courage to leave his family.
In an interview with Film review dailyAlexander J. Farrell brings up an interesting point about how many monster movies (especially some of them). the best) focus on keeping the monster out. This is an impossible task with The beast within because the monster lives in this house. It exists here and even pays the bills. Moreover, the film tells about the beast that lives in many.
Noah’s abusive nature is generational. He talks about his grandfather’s abuse, then his father, and now his violent nature. The film ends with Noah calling Willow a “little monster.” She may have to deal with her own anger as she grows up, as the darkness that exists within Noah may live within her. However, that doesn’t mean she will repeat the cycle. She’ll just have to fight hard to stop her potential beast.
Kit Harington and Caoilinn Springall deliver excellent performances must-see Hulu horror movie. It is one of the streaming services best movies to watch now.
Stream The Beast Within on Hulu.
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