Mark Coles Smith in Beast of War.

A ferocious new Australian feature, Beast of War takes WWII soldiers from the battlefield into the jaws of the deep.

The trailer for Beast of War has dropped, marking the arrival of one of the biggest and boldest Australian films of the year – a high stakes thriller that cranks up the genre into a brutal fight for life – where the enemy isn’t just in the skies, but circling beneath the waves. Survival is the only victory.

From cult filmmaker Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood, Sting), Beast of War revisits a little-known moment of World War II history. Inspired by true events off the coast of Western Australia in 1942 – when a troop carrier was sunk and survivors were attacked by sharks – the film follows a group of young servicemen adrift in the Timor Sea after a Japanese airstrike.

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As the remaining soldiers battle fire, exhaustion and fear in the open waters, a great white shark begins to circle the wreckage, turning the sea into a killing ground. What begins as a war film explodes into a no-holds-barred, blood-soaked tale of brotherhood, sacrifice and sheer survival.

Led by Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin, Apple Cider Vinegar) with a supporting cast of fresh talent on the rise, including Joel Nankervis (Red Belly) Sam Delich (Spiderhead, Ten Pound Poms), Aswan Reid (The New Boy) and Lee Tiger Halley (Boy Swallows Universe), Beast of War is a war epic like no other. Practical effects take centre stage, with a full-scale animatronic great white – the most sophisticated ever built – bringing ferocious realism to the screen and creating a raw intensity rarely seen in contemporary cinema.

Forged from history and driven by spectacle, Beast of War explodes in a collision of fire, steel and blood while an unexpected new enemy lurks in the depths. Relentless, outrageous and utterly entertaining, it delivers a white-knuckle story that will grip audiences until its final nail-biting frame.

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