UPS
Assurant
Beast brings back the short, sharp, well-crafted creature feature
Early in the man-versus-nature horror movie Beast, one of the characters wears a faux-vintage Jurassic Park T-shirt — a choice that scans as clear homage, from one Universal summer nature-from-hell creature feature to another. Beast even features that classic Jurassic movie trope, a pair of siblings struggling to stay out of view as a large animal circles the vehicle where they’re trapped. But in spite of the parallels, in spite of a surprising level of craft for a late-August release in a summer where an actual Jurassic Park sequel got a prime June slot, Beast ultimately isn’t gunning for status as a Jurassic upstart or companion piece. The movie is assured as it stakes out its own smaller territory.