A New Low (But Not 'All's Fair' Low) – Ryan Murphy's Latest Show Is a Must-Skip Flop
This won't be a failure remembered for long – it's simply a faceless, forgettable waste of time.
Ryan Murphy, creator of the cult classics Nip/Tuck and American Horror Story, is revisiting his signature topic of dismantling the beauty industry and the obsessive pursuit of perfection.
Unlike the disastrous legal drama All's Fair starring Kim Kardashian, his new series, The Beauty, isn't a disaster.
It's something more insidious – a dull and uninspired flop that even the most devoted Murphy fans shouldn't waste their time on.
What Is 'The Beauty' About?
The plot revolves around a dangerous, experimental beauty vaccine that was stolen from an eccentric billionaire and secretly distributed among the fashion elite worldwide.
The vaccine has horrific side effects: supermodels and celebrities are transformed into possessed mutants and die in spectacularly gruesome ways. One such death occurred at the Balenciaga show, when model Ruby Rossdale died.
Meanwhile, FBI agents Madsen and Bennett, who are navigating their own complicated relationship, are tasked with investigating this anomaly. Meanwhile, to cover his tracks, the billionaire sends his personal assassin after the culprits.
'The Substance' Was a True Cultural Event, and 'The Beauty' Is Its Unsuccessful Successor
Released a year earlier, Coralie Fargeat's The Substance became a benchmark body horror movie about the price of beauty, spawning a wave of imitations. The Beauty is the most obvious example of such imitators.
Ryan Murphy based his project on an old comic book, but ultimately created a derivative and belated reaction to an established trend rather than a bold, original statement.
'The Beauty' Could Work as a Wild, Campy Show, but It's Afraid to Push the Envelope Too Far
With a cartoonish billionaire villain, a mercenary who wears an eye patch, and an incel protégé who has been transformed into a meme blogger, the ingredients for a juicy, self-deprecating camp show in the tradition of early Murphy are perfect.
However, The Beauty is torn between two tones. On the one hand, it tries to be that same ridiculous satire, on the other hand, it suddenly devolves into a dull procedural in which FBI agents discuss kintsugi philosophy and their love lives at crime scenes.
This narrative lacks energy and drive and drags down the entire series. Even the visual effects for the transformations look dated compared to modern body horror standards.
Ultimately, The Beauty isn't funny or wacky enough to become a campy cult classic, and it's too silly and underdeveloped to be taken seriously as pointed social commentary.
What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'The Beauty'?
-
The Beauty has 71% from critics and 65% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
-
On IMDb, the series has a score of 6.2/10.
Where to Watch 'The Beauty'?
The Beauty is available to stream on Hulu.
