Somebody please get this woman anxiety medication stat! Léa Seydoux stars in The Beast, a sci-fi drama from French director Bertrand Bonello, playing fear-paralyzed Gabrielle, a woman who must get a quasi lobotomy to function in 2044 Paris. In the film’s first trailer, debuting below, she gets hooked up to an IV drip, lies in the hospital’s tar bath, and plugs in a device that allows people to travel to their past lives, all for the express purpose of “erasing†the scourge of feelings. “By purifying your DNA, you’ll explore your past lives to clean away old traumas inherited over centuries,†a doctor tells her. During the operation, she wakes up in Belle Époque–era Paris wielding a chef’s knife or she’s wandering around an affluent early 21st century home. Sometimes Gabrielle is adrift in a home underwater or popping a baby doll’s eyes or surrounded by walls on fire. In every incarnation, she meets Louis (George MacKay), who alternates between lover and existential threat. “I’m scared of no longer feeling things,†Gabrielle admits.
Well, the past may be far scarier than she could even imagine. Apparently, there’s a beast ready to pounce. “It means someone’s going to die,†we hear in voice-over. I see why she’s a bad bitch with bad anxiety. The Beast opens in select cities on April 5.