Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba), guilt-stricken over his handling of his wife’s passing, escorts his two teenage daughters, the rebellious Meredith (Iyana Halley) and her younger, within an inch of rebelling sister Norah (Leah Jeffries), on an African safari in their mother’s village. Rather than mending fences, the trio and friend of the family Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), fall victim to a king size king of beasts. Before the action kicked into overdrive, one wondered why the filmmakers insisted on interrupting the engrossing interplay between father and daughters with rumblings in the jungle. Once the CG cat was out of the bag, the family interplay became a drag. The effects can be convincing (Copley being nuzzled by a pair of Leo’s fooled me), but more often than not, the distracting long shots make Victor Mature’s tussles with a stuffed wildcat in Samson and Delilah look like the National Geographic Channel by comparison. The main reason Beast roars to be seen on the big screen are cinematographer Philippe Rousselot’s (Diva, Thérèse, The Tailor of Panama) and his first time DP Baltasar Breki’s night work and their fleet, airborne long-takes through the African bush. Who needs special effects with such assured camerawork doing the lion’s share of the work? Baltasar Kormákur (101 Reykjavík, Jar City) directs. (2022) — Scott Marks