Beast's True Story Is So Much Scarier Than The Movie
Idris Elba’s horror film Beast tells the terrifying story of man-eating lions, however the true story behind the film is even scarier.
The 2022 horror film Beast may tell a seemingly unrealistic story of a rogue, man-eating lion that stalks a father and his two daughters, however, the basic events of the film did actually occur and are even scarier than what is told on screen. Idris Elba stars in Beast as Nate, the father of two young girls whom he takes to Africa for a chance to reconnect. The family is mourning the loss of the girls' mother and Nate's ex-wife, who passed away from cancer.
The main villain in Beast is an African lion that seems smarter than the average animal and is set on killing Nate (actor Idris Elba) and his family. It kills nearly an entire village before setting its sights on Nate. The family experiences several death-defying moments throughout Beast where they face ambushes, mauling, and stalking by the lion. In the end, Nate and his daughters make it out alive, stronger than they were before, however, they do have to sacrifice and suffer pain before they get there. The lion is eventually taken down by its own kind and the danger is finally eradicated.
Beast True Story: The Tsavo Maneaters Explained
While the idea of lions that hunt humans may seem unlikely, the events of Beast did actually happen in Kenya in 1898 by a pair of maneless lions called the Tsavo Man-Eaters. These deaths were much different from the iconic deaths seen in movies. At that point, humans had been wary of lions that had attacked humans in the past, but these two male lions proved that some wild cats have a very specific and pointed desire to hunt humans. In fact, the lions even had dental injuries that were consistent with big cats which have taken humans as prey.
The Tsavo Man-Eaters were located in the Tsavo region of Kenya and targeted construction workers who were working on the Kenya-Uganda Railway. They were most active from March to December 1898 and caused massive upheaval in the area as workers began to flee their posts in fear of being attacked. Ultimately, the Tsavo Man-Eaters were killed by Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson. Patterson documented his experience hunting the lions in his semi-biographical book, The Man-Eaters of Tsavo.
How Many People Did The Tsavo Maneaters Kill?
Overall, the real-life movie monsters, the Tsavo Man-Eaters, were said to have killed 135 people in the span of about 10 months, though modern research has proposed that that amount could have been an exaggeration and only 25-30 men died as a result of the lions. The cats focused on the various camps spread out over the Tsavo region where the construction of a bridge over the Tsavo River was being just beginning. Only a few days into the project, the disappearances and killings began taking place. The lions would pull men from their tents at night and eat them, and later, the attacks intensified to the point where a killing occurred every day. The workers tried to deter the Man-Eaters with fences and fires, but the lions could not be stopped.
The general consensus about why the Tsavo Man-Eaters targeted humans at this time was not to become horror movie villains but had to do with the lions' food supply and dental disease. Scientists believe that the Man-Eaters were not eating humans as a last resort but as a supplement to their diet. In the Tsavo region, it would not have been unusual for a lion to come across a human corpse, and this could have contributed to their drive to eat humans. Additionally, one of the cats had an infection at the root of one of its teeth, which could have made it more difficult to hunt, therefore, it searched for easier prey.
Is Beast Actually Based On The Tsavo Maneaters?
Though Beast was likely inspired by the story of the Tsavo Man-Eaters, it is not based on the real-life events. There are many differences between the stories, such as Beast's village setting rather than a construction site and the focus on Idris Elba's character and family. Plus, in Beast, there is only one lion, and it is killed by other male lions, whereas the real events included two male lions and the intense hunt by Lieutenant Colonel John Henry Patterson. The lack of these pivotal details shows that Beast was not a direct adaptation but certainly could have been inspired by the story of the Man-Eaters.
Because Beast is vastly different from the Tsavo Man-Eaters tale, the real-life events would certainly make for a great, separate movie. Because of the intensity of the attacks and the interesting figure of John Henry Patterson, there could be many avenues a film could take, including providing more background on Africa and the reasons for the lions' attacks. All in all, both Beast and the Tsavo Man-Eaters are chill-inducing tales that can make anyone think twice about the power of wild animals.
