Beautiful Creatures

A common criticism of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is that it doesn't do justice to the original novel, which is often the case when the book is really good. I had not read the book prior to watching this but am now eager to do so.

Regardless, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is vividly filmed with good performances by Alice Englert, Alden Ehrenreich, Emmy Rossum, Rachel Brosnahan, and just about everyone else. Another frequent complaint seems to be that there is not enough in the magic/special effects department: True, but the relative sparseness here adds a necessary realism and highlights what spectactics the film does have. The townspeople of Gatlin, South Carolina, are stereotypical Bible-thumping yokel-rubes, but that serves its purpose in the way it contrasts Lena (Englert), who is just about the only character who does not speak in a deep-southern accent. It also helps in how Ethan (Ehrenreich) and his buddy Link (Thomas Mann) completely defy their hickish appearances. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES captures the whole Southern Gothic tradition quite well. One way or another, the relationships in this film are very real. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES also walks the thin horror-comedy line most admirably.

On the dimmer end of things, the whole texture of the film is a little slow and murky, and it would probably have been a little better with a few minutes cut here and there.