  We show that the hyperluminous source HLX--1 may be a stellar--mass binary
system like SS433, but seen along its X--ray beams. The precession of these
beams gives the $\sim 1$~yr characteristic timescale of the light curve, while
the significant X--ray duty cycle means that the precession angle must be
comparable with the beam opening angle, which is of order $1.6^{\circ}$. The
X--ray light curve appears to result from geometric collimation and scattering
as the beam moves through the line of sight. Encouragingly, the distance $\sim
95$~Mpc suggested for HLX--1 is only a few times larger than the minimum
distance at which we can expect to view such a highly--beamed system along its
axis. This picture allows a simple interpretation of HLX--1 as the most extreme
known member of the ULX population.
