Beast (2026) Review

Beast steps up to become a much more enjoyable film

Beast hits all the key sports-movie redemption story beats you’d expect. But thanks to great fight choreography and solid performances all around, there’s enough to elevate this film above average.

Daniel MacPherson plays Patton James, a now-retired MMA legend who lost his career down the drain thanks to some bad decision-making and ended up doing some time in prison. Ten years since he last entered the octagon, he’s just lost his job, his daughter needs money for medicine, and there’s a new baby on the way. Add in his old rival taking down his younger brother in a brutal fight, and there are all the right elements in the pot to stir Patton to want to step back in for another fight. Especially when there’s enough money to solve all his problems on the table, and there’s a revenge element to the fight now.

Patton’s old trainer and close friend, played by Russell Crowe, doesn’t want to train him, and his daughter, played by musician Amy Shark, steps in to help him. But he’s older, and there’s a sense of anxiety on his end about the fight, and he might be missing the beast within that once drove him to be the brutal fighter he once was.

Beast does a good job of interweaving all the people in Patton’s life in meaningful ways, while also making them the driving force behind his training and fighting in his upcoming fight. His wife, played by Kelly Gale, isn’t a fan of his fighting; she’s not portrayed as any “nagging-wife” stereotype, however. She is warm and provides the necessary centring in Patton’s life, a fact that is obvious early in the film.

The fights are where this film shines. The fight choreography is fantastic, with a love for the brutal, dangerous nature of MMA shining through from everyone involved. There are no over-the-top, showy moves or melodramatic moments inserted into the middle of the fights, especially the main one at the end of the film, to add to the tension and drama. It already exists thanks to the work the film had already done in the lead-up to the punches and grapples being traded. There’s always a constant sense of danger around these fights, in part thanks to how dangerous the film sets up the villain, the American fighter, played by Bren Foster. He’s willing to go for some dirty moves, but he’s also not portrayed as some cartoon character who gets away with a constant breaking of the rules. He’s brash and violent, in the right ways to drive viewers of Beast to want to see him get his ass-beat.

Another thing I loved about the fights in Beast, which have two main ones, is how the film doesn’t rely on music to tell the tale or play with the audience’s emotions. It doesn’t need the epic score to build these moments into what they feel like, and director Tyler Atkins instead relies on the action and great sound design to make all the punches and full-contact sport come to life.

Beast isn’t anything new when it comes to a sport or a fighting movie. You’ve seen most of these elements and story beats in all of the classics, but there’s a comfort level about them. And thanks to the solid performances all around, paired with some great fight choreography.

(Screener provided to Explosion Network.
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