On September 13, 2024, Netflix released 'Uglies', which has received predominantly negative reviews from critics, currently holding at 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the film, "In a futuristic world that imposes a cosmetic surgery at 16, Tally is eager for her turn to join the rest of society. But when a friend runs away, Tally embarks on a journey to save her that upends everything she thought she wanted." The ensemble cast includes Joey King, Chase Stokes, Laverne Cox, Charmin Lee, Jillian Murray, Luke Eisner, Keith Powers, and Brianne Tju. Read the full review round-up below.
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| Photo by Grigore Ricky on Unsplash |
Jonathon Wilson of Ready Steady Cut says, "The setting, outfits, CGI, action, and worldbuilding are so generic that, rather impressively, there isn’t a single element of the entire production that stands out as interesting, unique, or inspired." Adding, "Perhaps most egregiously of all, considering that, as mentioned at the top, the “pretty” version of Tally is just her usual face with an Instagram filter, at no point does Uglies even try and be a commentary on the idea of influencers, social media, and warping beauty standards. The topical update to the story is right there, and it was just ignored in favor of another 90 minutes of forgettable, predictable YA slop."
Kristen Maldonado of Pop Culture Planet notes, "Uglies would’ve been an absolute hit in the early 2000s, but, as much as I love these actors, it feels outdated. The script is awkward and the social commentary is stale. I wish they took bigger risks and updated the source material."
John Serba of Decider writes, "SKIP IT. Uglies needs to go back to “metamorphosis class” and learn how to metamorphose into something more original." Concluding, "Uglies is a miserable tryhard Poochie movie engineered to fit, and never ever waver from, the YA-dystopia genre. It’s embarrassingly competent, dull and predictable. If you enjoy stepping on every telegraphed plot point before it happens, then by all means, knock yourself out. Do you think Tally is a Chosen One figure? Is the world of the Pretties destined to fall, if not here, then in a future chapter (that, considering how blah this one is, hopefully won’t exist)? Is it not clear two minutes into the film that it’s going to trot out dusty, moth-eaten thematic tropes about how the stuff on the inside of people is what’s truly beautiful? Didn’t Hollywood cease its Hunger Games copycat-ism years ago? Answers, in order: Yes, yes, yes and obviously, disappointingly not."
Tomris Laffly of Variety was equally as unimpressed, stating, "Thanks to similar examples of the dystopian formula — think Michael Bay’s “The Island” or the “Divergent” series — audiences can read the writing on the wall well before “Uglies” reveals its twist. Of course, that beauty transformation is driven by something Orwellian, rather than the betterment of society. But teens like Tally have been fed lies for generations. They believe that every deeply-rooted system of discrimination had been caused by grudges between those who were born with good looks and those cursed with less-than-ideal facades. That injustice, coupled with an over-reliance on fossil fuels, caused the planet’s decline. But in the dystopian future of “Uglies,” that’s all a thing of the past. Everyone is equally pretty now, and science has prevailed to invent a plant-based resource to meet all our survival needs." Continuing, "While the YA genre can be very capable of unearthing outsized desires and rebellions in all of us, the problem here is the source material itself. Or rather, the timing of its screen adaptation. Perhaps in 2005, when popular social media sites were at their infancy, using fake beauty projections of young people as the basis of a dystopian tale was a more novel idea. These days though, it feels immediately obsolete, as soon as Tally looks in the mirror early on and imagines what her own enhanced beauty would feel like. “Uglies” never recovers from there."
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