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Beast of War

Play trailer 1:49 Poster for Beast of War R 2025 1h 27m Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 38 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
When their boat is sunk while crossing the Timor Sea during World War II, a young troop of Australian soldiers must find a way to survive the harsh seas on a quickly shrinking life raft. Hundreds of miles from anywhere, they must confront interpersonal conflicts, enemy attacks, and the advances of one very large, very hungry great white shark. From Kiah Roache-Turner, director of Wyrmwood and Sting, comes this uniquely terrifying tale.
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Beast of War

Beast of War

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Critics Consensus

Honing its bite with sharp acting and compelling character dynamics, Beast of War utilizes historical events as good chum for sophisticated genre filmmaking.

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Critics Reviews

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John Anderson Wall Street Journal Jan 17
It’s terrifying -- perhaps more terrifying in how it compels the viewer to imagine being in the same situation than in how the subsequent shark attacks are actually staged; some viewers will likely be as disturbed by the claustrophobia as by the teeth. Go to Full Review
Sara Michelle Fetters MovieFreak.com Oct 13
3/4
There’s blood in the water, and that’s exactly as it should be. Go to Full Review
Stephen Romei The Australian Oct 10
3.5/5
It’s old-fashioned film-making and I think we need more of it. Go to Full Review
John Serba Decider Jan 27
Beast of War is far from groundbreaking, and the story is thin. But it’s also a taut 87 minutes, and offers just enough of a variation on familiar stories to be worth your time. Go to Full Review
Grant Watson Fiction Machine Jan 26
7/10
The concept is simple, easy to sell to an audience, and it unfolds in a brisk and efficient 83 minutes. This is a film that does precisely what it claims to do, which is an approach I will always appreciate. Go to Full Review
Jayne Nelson Radio Times Jan 21
4/5
If you're willing to suspend your disbelief and dive into its pool of genre tropes, you'll find this Beast has a powerful bite. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Markus A @Excalibur866 1d Literally could NOT get through the first 10 minutes without turning this off. The standard of acting is poor bordering on embarrassingly pathetic. Officers who speak like they’ve walked out of the local pub and have no class or dignity, special effects that are questionable and a sad characterisation of the ANZAC spirit that is nothing short of cringeworthy. Direction is weak, dialogue insipid and characterisations incredibly poor. Everything that is wrong with the woke Australian film industry today. Forget it! See more Derek S @Dstoll76 Mar 9 I was honestly so disappointed by this movie. The story was there. Hell, this actually happened(not exactly, but the same idea). The acting was decent, and the FX were decent, but filming location and bad writing ruined what could have been one of the greatest shark movies of all time. The movie moved way too quickly, cutting any sort of character development abruptly short, and making every death feel meaningless and sudden. With some men being drug off with zero tension. Just poof, gone. The biggest issue was the painfully obvious fact that it was shot in a pool. And they covered up this fact by using some sort of endless fog that never allowed you to see more than 10ft away from their raft. A raft, mind you, that was simply a chunk of debris. Yet somehow withstood a grenade blast, and never bobbed once despite holding a group of men moving around like it was solid ground. So sad. Could’ve been great. How this has an 89% from critics is baffling. See more Debbie S @DebSa Mar 6 I’m Personally insulted by this rubbish movie. As it says, it’s "based loosely" on an actual wartime event. My father was one of the survivors of this actual wartime event - and this portrayal is a disgrace! Very sad to think a true event was turned into a 2nd rate "Shark movie. Our war heroes should be shown respect in a "portrayal of a real life event"! This rubbish movie does not do that and the writers should be ashamed of themselves. The heroes of HMAS Armidale should be portrayed with the utmost reverence. See more Thomas V @Dontcallmedude Mar 3 If you like shark movies, war movies, and survival movies, then you will enjoy Beast of War. Just dont eat all the f*ckin' peaches! Im giving it 3.5 popcorn kernels. See more Carter M @cartermitch Feb 16 Pretty cool! Shark was fun See more Laurie S @Karlwinters Feb 13 Some are easily pleased but I like some kind of realism and the grenade blast in the water would have either killed it or stunned it so it would have then drowned because sharks need to keep moving to survive. It turned out the shark was not only bullet proof but bomb proof as well. Basically it's shark's crap. See more Read all reviews
Beast of War

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Movie Info

Synopsis When their boat is sunk while crossing the Timor Sea during World War II, a young troop of Australian soldiers must find a way to survive the harsh seas on a quickly shrinking life raft. Hundreds of miles from anywhere, they must confront interpersonal conflicts, enemy attacks, and the advances of one very large, very hungry great white shark. From Kiah Roache-Turner, director of Wyrmwood and Sting, comes this uniquely terrifying tale.
Director
Kiah Roache-Turner
Producer
Chris Brown, Blake Northfield
Screenwriter
Kiah Roache-Turner
Distributor
Well Go USA Entertainment
Production Co
Pictures in Paradise, Bronte Pictures
Rating
R (Language|Gore|Bloody Violent Content)
Genre
Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Australian English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 10, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 10, 2025
Runtime
1h 27m
Aspect Ratio
Digital 2.39:1
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