New TV Series The Beauty is a Bloody Satire on the Cost of Perfection
When I heard that Bella Hadid was making her acting debut, I knew I had to tune in. But what unfolded was less than spectacular. The Beauty, a Disney+ TV series in the body-horror genre created by Ryan Murphy and Matt Hodgson, painfully reexamines a well-trodden Hollywood plotline: the pursuit of perfection (and the tensions of such).
The storyline follows two FBI agents — played by Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall — as they investigate a sexually transmitted treatment dubbed ‘the beauty’. As the name would suggest, this “disease” unleashes instant physical attractiveness. But this gift comes with some horrifying side effects. Exposure is fatal, often resulting in overheating and finally, bodily combustion. When this rupture occurs, the victims’ blood contaminates nearby witnesses, spreading a gruesome epidemic. It’s a literal manifestation of society’s favourite saying: beauty is pain. But here, as the story unfolds, it’s also a deadly sacrifice.
Based on a comic book of the same name, The Beauty embraces its original medium’s extreme visual style. Expect over-the-top graphics of gore, blood, human bones protruding from flesh, and frequent body disintegration. Yet these illustrations are intentional and form the basis for most comparisons to The Substance. So if you’re squeamish about this sort of imagery, it’s best to avoid the series.
In both works, these graphics serve more than just for shock value; they illustrate the show’s satirical perspective on society’s fixation with unattainable beauty standards (and the extreme lengths one would endure to obtain them). This grotesque imagery mirrors the invasive and destructive nature of cosmetic surgery itself, dramatizing the inestimable cost. It’s uncomfortable to watch — but that discomfort is the point.
The series succeeds in poking fun at contemporary culture, where drugs like Ozempic and Manjaro have entered pop-culture vernacular. In the first few episodes, viewers encounter ironic, short-and-sweet cameo appearances by runway models Bella Hadid and Amelia Gray Hamlin. Casting two nepo-models who have profited from cosmetic procedures is definitely no accident. They embody the very ideal the characters are itching to obtain — but also go to extreme lengths in their ‘off-camera’ lives to maintain.
The glamorization of transformation also lies at the heart of the show. The jarring “before and after” imagery of its infected subjects depicts two entirely different people, echoing the humiliating yet aspirational transformations showcased on reality shows like The Biggest Loser.
Similarly, in The Beauty’s ecosystem, the after shots reveal successful runway models who profit from their looks, whereas the before images suggest otherwise.
Critically, the show has received mixed (and quite divided) responses. While low ratings are piling up online, The New Yorker dubbed it a ‘hot mess’, while The Guardian says it delivers Murphy’s signature horror production style, as seen in his other works, such as American Horror Story and Dahmer. Meanwhile, online commentators say it goes too far. While it somewhat successfully holds up a mirror to today’s culture, is it necessary to have yet another Hollywood depiction satirizing the very beauty standard it champions and upholds? I mean, Hollywood itself is built on the same admiration and adornment that The Beauty’s characters crave.
At the end of the day, beauty remains a multi-hundred-billion-dollar global powerhouse, and I don’t think another mockery of contemporary culture’s indulgence in it will change anything. It does, however, reveal the questionable extremes we celebrate in our pursuit of beauty — and for those who reach the finish line, the results are shockingly deadly.
FEATURE PHOTO COURTESY OF FX NETWORKS.
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