Handlung

In 18th-century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his Native American friend Mani are sent to the Gevaudan province at the king's behest to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast.

Southern France, around the year 1766: fear of a murderous beast is rife in the mountainous region of Gévaudan. The Chevalier Grégoire de Fronsac (Samuel Le Bihan), a well-traveled naturalist and taxidermist, is commissioned by His Royal Majesty to assist in the search. With his blood brother and friend Mani (Marc Dacoscos), who has accompanied him since his time in the colonies in the New World, the Chevalier immerses himself in the exuberant life of the provincial nobility. He begins an affair with the mysterious courtesan Sylvia (Monica Bellucci), meets the charismatic nobleman de Morangias (Vincent Cassel) and falls in love with his young sister Marianne (Émilie Dequenne). However, the hunt for the beast is unsuccessful. To demonstrate his omnipotence, the king has a wolf shot and instructs de Fronsac to stuff the animal into a monstrous creature. Another victim is soon reported from Gévaudan. De Fronsac returns to the frightened region on his own initiative. What he suspects seems bolder than any gruesome speculation.—ARD

In 1764 something was stalking the mountains of central France. A 'beast' that pounced on humans and animals with terrible ferocity. Indeed they beast became so notorious that the King of France dispatched envoys to find out what was happening and to kill the creature. By the end, the Beast of Gevaudan had killed over 100 people.To this day, no one is entirely sure what it was, a wolf? a hyena? or something supernatural? The Beast is a popular myth in France, albeit one rooted firmly in reality; somewhat surprisingly it is little known to the outside world, and perhaps incredibly it has never been made into a movie. Until now. Based on the true story of the Beast of the Gevaudan that terrorized France in the eighteenth century, the movie aims to tell first and explain afterwards. In the first part, a special envoy of the King of France, altogether biologist, explorer and philosopher, arrives in the Gevaudan region, in the mountainous central part of France. The Beast has been attacking women and children for months and nobody has been able to harm it or even take a good look at it. In the second part, our hero Chevalier de Fronsac will not only have to fight the Beast, but also ignorance, bigotry and conspiracy and will rely on two women, one an aristocrat, the other a prostitute, as well as the enigmatic Mani, an Iroquois he met in New-France (Canada).—Anonymous