Like vines slowly overtaking an old house, Beast—the feature debut of writer/director Michael Pearce—mines horror from the feeling of wildness encroaching on civilization. It’s set on the island of Jersey, a land of lush pastures surrounded by an aquamarine sea, and where authorities are searching for the culprit behind the brutal murders of several young girls. (True-crime buffs might recall that in the 1960s, the British isle was plagued by a serial rapist nicknamed the Beast of Jersey.)