UGLIES. Science Fiction for Fans of Gossip Sites [REVIEW]

I watched this movie right after Mitja Okorn’s “Boxer“, so the emotional and qualitative jump for me feels as vast as the Grand Canyon—of course, in favor of “Boxer”. “Uglies”, directed by McG, is like a more childish version of “Divergent”, which for some reason someone decided to recreate after years, but this time focusing on beauty. It’s been several hours since I watched it, and I’m still scratching my head over how the story jumps from a post-ecological disaster Earth to a peculiar new society, so advanced that it creates new humans, while their required reading is a manual called “How to Be a Painted Doll on the Red Carpet”. So, in the end, was our planet destroyed or not?

The so-called “Rusties”—fans of old-fashioned metal, oil rigs, high-octane gasoline, and maybe jeans—destroyed it. Basically, the old world, with its stark black-and-white divisions and ruthless exploitation of Earth’s natural resources, had to fall. All that remains of it are the ruins of skyscrapers gradually being consumed by moss. On the rubble of that old civilization, a new one was born—more eco-friendly, colorful, striving for perfection and equality, but still made up of the distant descendants of the Rusties. So it couldn’t have gone any other way, and this new society once again split, even literally walling itself off from its neighbors. The main character lives in one of these city-states, and at the age of 16, like everyone else, she must undergo an operation that will make her beautiful, perfect, and needed, which in practice means being transferred to a higher social caste—but at what cost? These questions will, of course, be answered eventually, but before that, you need to make it to at least halfway through the film, and with plot holes like these, it’s not easy. The lead role is played by Joey King, with co-stars including Keith Powers and Brianne Tju. You probably don’t know them, though you might recognize films like “The Kissing Booth” or “The Tomorrow War”. Unknown actors aren’t a problem, though they can be a clue. The problem lies elsewhere—in the core of the plot, namely the central theme.

The theme around which everything revolves is the supposed imperfection of the main character, Tally. She supposedly has a squint that’s barely visible, and she’s allegedly ugly, awkward, etc. She frequently imagines her post-operation self in the mirror, which is supposedly very invasive. The problem is that the viewers are shown a vision of the new Tally who’s simply better made-up, groomed, and dressed than in the gray uniform she wears at the special school that prepares 16-year-olds for biological conversion. So what’s the point here? To suggest to teens that they shouldn’t wear flashy makeup, or else they’ll become part of an empty, colorful society? That’s how it looks from the outside. It’s even more glaring when you compare the so-called BEAUTIFUL people to those living on the fringes of society, who look like Robin Hood’s crew. It’s a cheap metaphor. Its bluntness isn’t excused by the fact that the film is rated 13+ and aimed at teenagers. They could’ve tried harder to hide the obvious inspiration from “Divergent”. Visually, it’s also not impressive. The outcasts’ base looks like an amateur survival camp, the hoverboard riding effects suggest the film is at least 10 years old, the antagonist’s right-hand man is literally a puppet devoid of any dramatically shaded emotions, and the villain lacks authentic motivation, so how can he convince the audience that he’s scary? The best-looking elements are the airships, but these days it’s not such a big deal to make them well with CGI. Maybe it would’ve been better to modify the main theme of the supposed ugliness of the “Uglies”?

When the main character was looking at herself in the mirror and a female narrator was describing her reflections about how much she didn’t accept herself, I thought of a way to improve this storyline. The problem, though, is that the production would then stray from the path of forced political correctness. They’d need to hire disabled actors or make-up and/or digitally alter the able-bodied ones to appear disabled. Then this compulsion to modify oneself—not just legally, but mentally—would make more sense. It would be visible, striking in its ugliness. And paradoxically, it would resonate better with teenagers, among whom, I agree, there is indeed a cult of visual beauty that supposedly can change lives. To show it properly in a film, however, you need stronger stimuli for those teenagers, given the culture they live in and their constantly stimulus-bombarded psyches. I understand that the creators tried to surprise the audience with the ending, but they took a very simple, too banal path, which also isn’t visually appealing. There’s literally nothing impressive about this production, not even the music. Unfortunately, the editing also falters, highlighting the plot holes. Nowadays, to make a compelling sci-fi movie resonate, you need at least 120 minutes, not just over 90. So, unfortunately, my rating can’t be higher than 3/10.