Uglies is based off of a series of Scott Westerfield novels and takes place in a dystopian future, only it doesn’t seem dystopian. Society has gone away from evil fossil fuels and uses a special white lotus flower as a source of energy instead. Kids are sent to boarding school, where they bide their time in tightly controlled surroundings until they reach the age of sixteen, and then they’re sent off to get surgery to make them look impossibly perfect, after which they live in ultra-glamorous surroundings and party all the time. Until then, they’re known as “uglies.” If they don’t get the surgery, they’re outcasts from society.
Our heroine on this Day I Turned Pretty journey is Tally, whose nickname is Squint. Her best friend is Peris, also known as Nose. Squint and Nose make a pact that Nose will wait for Squint among the beautiful people until Squint gets her own surgery and they’ll presumably live happily ever after.
Problem is, once Nose gets his surgery, which makes him look like a refugee from a 90s boy band, he forgets all about Squint. She sneaks out to see him at a party, and it’s as if he doesn’t know her. Dejected, Squint goes back to school only to get saved from the curfew police by Shay, who becomes her best friend.
Shay tells Tally about a secret civilization called Smoke and its leader, a guy named David. Smoke lives close to nature. They also indulge in dangerous pastimes like reading books and working with their hands. Naturally, they don’t go in for those nasty surgeries. Also naturally, they’re personae non grata because they dare to think for themselves. Shay would much rather live free than be perfect, and sneaks off before she can be called up for surgery.
Tally’s not into the idea until Dr. Cable, the mastermind behind the surgery program, wants her to go after Shay.
Dr. Cable is up to no good, of course. Speaking of which, those surgeries make it easier for the patients to be brainwashed, and sometime patients die. The energy issue isn’t exactly perfect, either. Those pretty white flowers give off noxious fumes that eventually kill people.
Who else feels as if they’ve seen this movie before? THX-1138 comes to mind. So does Logan’s Run. And either version of The Stepford Wives. And Disturbing Behavior. And Star Trek. And Minority Report. Uglies could be worse, but the dialogue is pedestrian (“This is the brain we’re talking about.”), every beat of the film is predictable (Will Tally turn in her new friends or won’t she?) and the ending is a letdown. No, I’m not going to spoil it, even if it is a facepalm in more ways than one.
It’s not all bad, though. It’s kind of fun seeing how much of a Ken doll Nose can become and how anyone as completely cute as Tally can be thought of as ugly. There are also hoverboards, floating computer screens and replicators.
As weak a film as Uglies is, it makes some rather pointed-though-veiled commentary about today’s society. It’s interesting that the villains are the ones who are pushing manmade climate change while presenting a so-called remedy for fossil fuels that turns out to be even more toxic.
It’s also interesting that they’re the ones pushing conformity and unnecessary surgeries while seeing anyone who doesn’t fall in line as a threat. Books are verboten. Thinking for oneself is verboten. Working with one’s hands is verboten. Pointing out that a supposedly necessary surgery causes brain lesions and can possibly kill the patient is verboten. All that one should want out of life is to look like a Barbie or a Ken doll, stay on the bandwagon, and party around the clock.
After the last four years, and for that matter, after the advent of social media, this all hits closer to home than some may be comfortable with. Maybe that’s why the film has gotten some pretty bad reviews.
Well, that and, again, Uglies is cliched as all get-out. It’s enjoyable enough for what it is, but other films in the same genre have been done better with more tension and in the end, more satisfaction for both the characters and the audience.
It’ll pass the time, but that’s about it.
Uglies is currently streaming on Netflix. Rated PG-13.
My grade: C-
Principal Cast: Joey King, Vanessa Taylor, Whit Anderson, Chase Stokes, Laverne Cox, Charmine Lee, Jay DeVon Johnson, Jan Luis Castellanos, Sarah Vattano, Ashton Essex Bright, Zamani Wilder, Joseph Echavarria, Gabriella Garcia, Ash Maeda, Jordan Sherley, Paria Akbarshahi, Jessica Craig, Ashley Lambert
Directed by McG.
Written by Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, and Keith Powers.
This movie sounds a lot like that Twilight Zone episode “Eye of the Beholder”.
The names here alone drive my Gen x sensibilities insane. Like where’s Elon’s Exa when you need them.