Sexy Beast

2000 Directed by Jonathan Glazer

There's a bit of the beast in all of us.

The idyllic life of retired safecracker Gal is put at risk when a psychotic gangster from his past arrives at his villa in southern Spain, intent on bringing him out of retirement for one last job.

Ray Winstone Ben Kingsley Ian McShane Amanda Redman James Fox Cavan Kendall Julianne White Álvaro Monje Gérard Barray Robert Atiko Desirée Erasmus Nieves del Amo Oruet Terence Plummer Eddie O'Connell Chris Webb

Alternative Titles

La bestia salvaje, Retour au passé, Sexy Beast - Bankraub wider Willen, Erotiko ktinos, Ερωτικό Κτήνος, Sexy Beast - L'ultimo colpo della bestia, Bestia salvaje, Seksi zver

crime drama thriller

89 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Hollie Horror ★★★★★ 10

According to IMDb:
"Ben Kingsley claims the character of Don Logan is largely based on his grandmother."
I was going to rate this four stars, but fuck it...have five. RIP Ben's Grandma.
Review by YI JIAN ★★★★½ 7

Oh, bloody hell. Fockin' lunacy. Fockin' sexy.
Angry blokes swearin'.
cursin'
yellin'
boilin'
roastin'
swelterin'
Some crazy cunt in a stupid bunny suit, some in stupid man suits. Oh, bloody hell. Ghandi swears like a God. Ohhhh. Ridiculous. Tremendous. Fantastic. Fan-dabby-dozy ---- tastic.
Review by Bruno ★★★★½ 18

After a spellbinding experience with Under the Skin, I was anxious to see Jonathan Glazer’s other work and I can safely say that Sexy Beast is definitely another incredible film of his resume. The dark humor keeps you entertained throughout the entire movie but there’s also a very interesting conflict lived by Ray Winstone’s character. The actor gives one his best performances and Ben Kingsley is absolutely insane on screen. He truly shines in this unconventional role, showing how versatile he can be. His presence was always unsettling and intimidating to watch. The other segment with Ian McShane was also engaging and his interactions with Winstone were quite memorable. Jonathan Glazer adds some surreal imagery and a strangely poetic quality to the dialogues, showing glimpses of what would come later in his career with Under the Skin. He is already becoming of my favorite directors and I can hardly wait to watch Birth.
Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★★ 8

Just when I thought I'd seen it all (just kidding, obviously I haven't, I haven't even seen The Godfather Part II, it's a rhetorical device, try to keep up), Jonathan Glazer comes out with one of the most creative crime films of the new millennium. I went into Sexy Beast knowing nothing about it except that I absolutely loved Glazer's Under the Skin, and it put me so far on the edge of my seat wondering where it was going to go that I recommend anyone with any interest in gangster movies to check it out before reading anything else.
There's no big central twist or anything like that, it's just so well executed and such a slightly shifted portrayal…
Review by Simon Ramshaw ★★★★★ 15

Film #2 in Driver’s December Death Penalty AKA The December Project , which is part of Cinebro's The December Challenge. 1 month, 100 movies.
89 minutes
"Shut up, c**t. You louse. You got some f**kin' neck ain't you. Retired? F**k off, you're revolting. Look at your suntan, it's leather, it's like leather man, your skin. We could make a f**king suitcase out of you. Like a crocodile, fat crocodile, fat bastard. You look like f**king Idi Amin, you know what I mean? Stay here? You should be ashamed of yourself. Who do you think you are? King of the castle? Cock of the walk? What you think this is, the wheel of fortune? You think you can make your dough…
Review by sprizzle ★★★★ 2

Now this is a gangster film that will get under your skin.
This is the directorial debut from Jonathan Glazer, who many of you will know from this year's Under the Skin. Every quality that that makes UTS such a powerful film is present in Sexy Beast. It's just not fully developed yet. It's one of the best looking gangster films I've seen. One of the best British gangster films I've seen and something that makes sure it stands out from the crowd.
Glazer knows how to frame a shot. From the first scene onwards, every shot seems like it has been tailor made to impress the viewer. But don't get caught staring at the pretty pictures because this movie…

Recent reviews

Review by ty ★★★½

Only the English can speak out of anger without moving their hands. It's really pleasing to seeing Ben Kingsley display statuesque physical control. There's also a full character there under the insults and robot walking, which is especially visible during the mirror scene. The script is kind of lopsided and the stylized sex-party story sequence isn't as clever it thinks it is.
Watching Ray Winstone bake in the sun is memorable.
Review by Nathan ★★★★

That was very sweet. Ray Winstone is very relatable because I too would rather stay in spain with him and his wife and friends instead of doing a movie heist. When the heist actually happened it was cool and engaging, but mainly because the film had its priorities straight. Glazer is a new favorite. What a guy.
Review by Cinema Explosion! ★★★★

www.metacritic.com/movie/sexy-beast
Review by Chad Merrell ★★★★

After watching "Under the Skin," I completely bought into Glazer and purchased his previous films. "Sexy Beast" combines Glazer's stylized, Kubrick-ian visuals with an uncommon crime story that just works. I'd follow this director anywhere.
Review by Jang ★★★★

코엔 형제의 <블러드 심플>을 보면서도 느낀 것이지만, 감독으로서 훌륭한 이야기를 매끄럽게 다듬는 것도 재능이지만, 평범한 이야기를 재미있게 만드는 것이야말로 진정한 재능이라고 느껴진다. 이 영화의 스토리는 별 것 없다. 은퇴한 전직 범죄자가 다시 한 탕하고 끝맺는 이야기, 어찌보면 비슷한 시기에 나온 <오션스 시리즈>의 이야기와 똑같다고 할 수 있다. 하지만 이 영화의 매력은 그런 스토리에서 나오는 것이 아니다. 감독은 이 평범한 이야기를 <오션스 시리즈> 처럼 케이퍼 무비로 만들기는 커녕 오히려 범죄 장면을 줄여버린다. 그렇다면 이 영화에서 스릴은 어디서 나오는걸까? 그건 바로 편집의 방법에 있다 생각한다. 이 영화의 편집은 참 특이하다. 보통의 감독들이 지루한 부분은 최대한 줄이고, 재미있는 부분은 늘려서 편집하려 하지만, 이 영화의 감독은 아예 다른 방법을 차용한다. 이 영화는 어느 지점을 봐도 한 영화의 클라이맥스 같다. 그 이유는 영화의 분기점들 마다…
Review by James Loone ★★★★

"Quite frankly your attitude appalls me. It's not what you're saying, it's all this stuff you're not saying. Insinnuendos."
An absolute pleasure and the most purely entertaining film I have watched in some time, Sexy Beast is the directorial debut of Jonathan Glazier, best known for his excellent Under the Skin, and might be my favourite work of his. It features outstanding performances from the likes of Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley who both crush it in their roles of an understated, retired gangster and his sociopathic former boss. There are some absolutely fantastic moments in this one that made me genuinely laugh out loud, something I rarely do. I wasn't expecting this much humour going into it but I…
Review by Kyle Gaffney ★★★★

The last thing I expected the debut film from Jonathan Glazer to be was a British gangster film, but it's a welcome surprise!
Pacing is fantastic with plenty of interesting camera work going on, as well as a pretty engaging storyline which is surprising for me as I've never been super into this genre, although that could be down to the short runtime.
Despite being a more grounded genre when contrasted against the sci-fi of 'Under The Skin', there is definitely some specs of more abstract and dare i say it 'art house' cinema, whatever you take that to mean
If you weren't into 'Under the Skin' don't let that put you off (for the record, it's one of my favourite films ever), you might find that this film works for you, and hey it's a low commitment length.
Really interested to see what his follow up 'Birth' is like.
Review by Robin Verweij ★★★★

No! No no no no no no! No! No! No! No no no no no no!*

*Actually yes.
Review by Sojo Mckenzie

2018