Lea Seydoux and 'The Beast' find the tensions in every tense — past, present, future

Bertrand Bonello, the one of the best filmmakers you’ve probably never heard of, delivers a surprising experience with his latest film, “The Beast.”

I will confess initial trepidation over this time-crossing tale of dark relationships and tragic memories. Like perhaps the film was unable to navigate its own philosophical ruminations to find something worth watching. Yet as the story builds and the dynamics of the characters grow, “The Beast” becomes thrilling while still keeping its smarts about it.

The film opens with a Hollywood actress (played by the sensational Lea Seydoux) standing in front of a green screen being directed to pick up a knife and scream. “Can you be scared by something that is not there?” she is asked by an off-screen voice.

Such a line could be read as a mission statement for the film, where the titular creature itself doesn’t exist — except in the dream-like condition of lives taken and loves lost.

Our story shifts to Paris, where Seydoux is a socialite named Gabrielle married to a dollmaker after the turn of the last century. She is at a stuffy party and meets Louis (George MacKay, who you might recall as the lead from “1917”) and finds herself drawn to him.

Both recall a sensation they’ve met before but cannot figure out when. They talk about loneliness and fear of an evolving world. This intercuts to scenes from the year 2044 where Seydoux is playing Gabrielle again but, in a world overran by artificial intelligence, she seeks to purge herself of “bad memories” in order for her intellect to be seen as more rational and, therefore, in line with the times.

Is the Gabrielle from 1910 the same person we see in the future and does “The Beast” assume reincarnation as the designation of the soul? Or are we watching a character envisioning herself in a different iteration; some figment of imagination elaborating on an unspeakable emotion or deep psychological trauma?

The good thing about science fiction is both can be true. Literal and figurative ideas can exist on the same wavelength of narrative when rules of realism are bent.

I will confess the repressive trappings of the early 20th century made me fidgety. Bonello seems unconformable with the environs yet felt compelled to portray it as he is borrowing heavily from the Henry James novella “The Beast in the Jungle,” set more or less during the same period.

Bonello hits his stride when we get back to that actress — named Gabrielle and again played by Seydoux — in 2014. MacKay also shows up as Louis, but now the character is an incel who broadcasts his sexual frustration onto a vlog before his anger turns into homicide.

Gabrielle is housesitting in a gorgeous house with lots of empty space where a stalker could be lurking. It is the most unsettling horror I’ve seen in a film all year and in sharp contrast with the other segments. Whereas fear and longing are mere abstract concepts in the historical vignette, and reality totally abstract in the future, everything is terrifyingly real in the more recent past. The Beast very much could be lurking around every corner.

The juxtaposition between the stories becomes more stark. With that, another theme emerges: each story deals with the travails of modern life and how technology is morphing humanity. In 1910, there’s lots of talk about how to make dolls more lifelike. In 2014, the online world has made it easier for us to impose ourselves onto others.

Which leads to the future, where all of our fears about technology taking over humanity have come to fruition. Our memories are liabilities and our personalities a detriment. Who we are becomes a problem that must be solved rather than being what makes us unique. While I was reminded of films like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” or “Cloud Atlas,” this film has plenty to say about these same subjects.

What is “The Beast” trying to say? Perhaps we fear the wrong things. That those we love can be those who end up hurting us the most. That our memories and our experiences make us who we are and cannot be easily reconciled. It’s an intellectual film that doesn’t shy from big thoughts on who we are and where we are going.

Plus, Seydoux proves she's still one of the best actors working in the world. Performance after performance, she always dazzles.

“The Beast” is a hard film to explain but tough to forget. It begins its run at Ragtag Cinema this weekend. Foreign films don’t last very long there, so see this the first chance you get. Then maybe it will be so popular the theater will expand the run. Everyone wins.

James Owen is the Tribune’s film columnist. In real life, he is a lawyer and executive director of energy policy group Renew Missouri. A graduate of Drury University and the University of Kansas, he created Filmsnobs.com, where he co-hosts a podcast. He enjoyed an extended stint as an on-air film critic for KY3, the NBC affiliate in Springfield, and now regularly guests on Columbia radio station KFRU.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Seydoux and 'The Beast' find the tensions in every tense — past, present, future