These days, whenever a popular book series is adapted to film, fans often wonder if it’s going to live up to their expectations. Will beloved characters be omitted? Will new ones be introduced? Will the ending change? How will the supernatural special effects be handled? A lot of these questions have definitely been tossed around in regards to the latest big-buzz movie, Beautiful Creatures. But as someone who hasn’t read the best-selling books, I’m ignoring all that and focusing on only the movie itself without comparing it to its source material by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
For those who are unfamiliar with Beautiful Creatures, the gist of the plot is this: A small-town boy named Ethan keeps having these strange and vivid dreams about a mysterious brunette. One day at school, he spots a new student who is an exact replica of his “dream girl” and he is immediately attracted to her. Her name is Lena, and she stems from a very rich yet reclusive family, whose members are rumored to be witches (Casters). Lena tries to avoid kindling a relationship with Ethan but it’s inevitable—they’re both smitten with each other. Unfortunately though, she is a female Caster who, due to a long-running curse in her lineage, is condemned to the dark unless she commits an unspeakable act. And the number on her hand—which changes daily—is a countdown that signifies her potential doomsday aka her descent from good to evil. Will Lena and Ethan beat the odds and find a way to keep her in the light? Can their love survive her sixteenth birthday?
