5 reasons you might like Beast (2026)

Beast is a 2026 Australian film directed by Tyler Atkins, written by David Frigero and Russell Crowe, yes, that Russell Crowe. It’s about an ex-MMA fighter turned longshore fisherman named Patton James who is pulled back into the cage when he gets the chance to fight champion Xavier Grau, who is both he and his brother’s rival.

I am Jason Kleeberg, this is Force Five, and here are 5 reasons you might want to see Beast.

Reason number 5, if you’re into sports dramas, specifically in-ring sports drama staples like The Karate Kid and Rocky, you’re going to love this. Making the underdog fight film work is a pretty tried and true formula - give us a character that we want to root for and give us an enemy that we love to root against, and Beast certainly delivers on that formula.

Reason number 4, the score by Brian Cachia is really well done, especially during the fight scenes. Sound is half of the importance in a movie and the score here heightens the already awesome choreography. I found myself tapping my knee to the hollow drums during certain scenes and then humming along to it later.

Reason number 3, if you’re an MMA fan, you’re going to love this. All of the training and the fighting is very well done and the final fight scene that the entire film builds up to is quite possibly the best MMA fight done on screen. It’s really well edited, scored and acted, and when the moment you’ve been waiting to exhale comes, it feels really well earned. The fights were choreographed by Bren Foster, who also plays the villain in this film. Speaking of…

Reason number 2, the supporting cast in this film is fantastic. I mentioned that I thought Bren Foster was a star after I saw Life After Fighting and he’s amazing as Xavier Grau, a hulking tank of a fighter. Russell Crowe, who plays Patton’s ex-trainer Sammy, is really great in a small part, including two very emotional scenes. It reminded me how damn good he is. Also, Amy Shark plays Rose, Sammy’s daughter and Patton’s current trainer and she was fantastic. I really like her music but this is her first major film role and I thought she was brilliant.

Reason number 1, you’ve got to check this out for the performance by Daniel MacPherson, who plays Patton James. I wasn’t familiar with him and legitimately thought he was an MMA fighter who was hired to act in this film. Turns out it was just a damn good performance. He looks and feels like a seasoned veteran in the squared circle, but that’s just a small part of why his performance is so good. I assume that he won’t get any Oscar buzz at the end of the year for this picture, but you know what? He should.

Don’t let the terrible title fool you - I really enjoyed Beast and If any of those reasons sound like something you’d like, check it out. If you’ve already seen it, what did you think? Let me know in the comments down below or email me at forcefivepodcast@gmail.com.