An interview was doing the rounds on social media last week where actor David Field (Gettin’ Square) politely expressed his concerns about the current state of the Australian film industry.  He talked about the tax subsidies Hollywood receives to shoot moves in Australia with A-list casts, which is great for local crews, but has it come at the expense of our own productions?

Actors like Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Rose Byrne and Heath Ledger were all no-names starting out but they became known to the world through smallish Aussie movies including BMX Bandits, Oscar & Lucinda, Romper Stomper, and Two Hands.  Our newest export is 28-year-old Oscar nominee Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), but with declining opportunities here, he travelled to the United States for his break-out performance in the Netflix movie The Kissing Booth (2018).

Showing as part of the 2026 Gold Coast Film Festival, which opens this week, Beast is the latest Australian movie to earn a broad cinema release (American financiers helped fund it) and is from

director Tyler Atkins (Bosch & Rockit).  Largely shot in Sydney and Bangkok, it’s centred on the world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).  The cast is headlined by Russell Crowe (Gladiator), in largely a supporting role, with the bulk of screentime going to Daniel MacPherson and Luke Hemsworth, two actors who got their start on the soapie Neighbours roughly 25 years ago.

I want to support Australian cinema wherever possible, and we’ve seen some wonderful movies over the past few years including Of an Age, Late Night with the Devil, Memoir of a Snail, Bring Her Back and The Correspondent.  Those I’ve just listed cover multiple genres, showcase our local talent but, above all else, they tell terrific, original stories.  It reminds me of a quote attributed to the late Alfred Hitchcock – “to make a great film you need three things – the script, the script, and the script.”

Sadly, it’s this element which lets Beast down.  It’s the kind of melodramatic narrative which feels borrowed from the plethora of American sports flicks which have preceded it.  Patton (MacPherson) is a washed-up MMA middleweight who, after mouthing off at his boss, has just lost his job working on a fishing trawler.  He has a wife and child to support (with another on the way) and, out of nowhere, he is offered $100,000 to get back to the ring for the first time a decade to spar with a formal rival who just so happens to be the reigning world champion.  Adding to his motivation is the fact his brother owes money to gangsters and if the debts are not settled soon, more trouble awaits.  Oh, and did I mention the fight is in just 7 weeks?

It’s a screenplay with too many clichés and stereotypes.  Why not craft something with more grit and realism?  I didn’t mind the final battle, which was shot at an area in Thailand, but Beast is a movie where the emotional beats are manipulative, and the plot points are predictable.  Fans of mixed martial arts may enjoy its theatrics but there’s not enough positives to warrant my recommendation.