Beautiful (I) (2009)

After another teenager disappears from the idyllic suburb of Sunshine Hills, Suzy, the girl-next-door of every boy's dreams, persuades Daniel, a fourteen-year-old with an obsessive crush, to help her uncover the truth.

Director:

Dean O'Flaherty

Writer:

Dean O'Flaherty

Stars:

Peta Wilson, Aaron Jeffery, Asher Keddie

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Peta Wilson	...	Sherrie
Aaron Jeffery	...	Alan
Asher Keddie	...	Jennifer
Sebastian Gregory	...	Danny
Tahyna Tozzi	...	Suzy
Socratis Otto	...	Max
Alex Williamson	...	Bully
Laura Trevor	...	Amanda Howatt
Joe Meldrum	...	Boy Playing Cricket
Corey Boutwell	...	Boy Playing Cricket
Nat Nilson	...	Boy Playing Cricket
Ben Cosh	...	Boy Playing Cricket
Harris Goudas	...	Boy Playing Cricket
Jess Bosisto	...	Girl on Roller Skates
Tori O'Neil	...	Girl on Roller Skates

Storyline

After another teenager disappears from the idyllic suburb of Sunshine Hills, Suzy, the girl-next-door of every boy's dreams, persuades Daniel, a fourteen-year-old with an obsessive crush, to help her uncover the truth.

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Plot Keywords:

pink shirt | female nudity | black bra | black bra and panties | one word title | 

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Taglines:

Get me some secrets

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, sexual material, language and some nudity

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 2009 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Apagoges

Filming Locations:

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kojo Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film marks the directorial debut of director Dean O'Flaherty.

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Goofs

The film is made by an Australian company, and seems to be based in Australia, but the vehicles used are a mix of right-hand drive (used in Australia, Great Britain, etc.) and left-hand drive (used in U.S., Canada, etc.). When Alan drives Daniel home, it's right-hand drive; when one of the abducted girls gets into the black car, it's right-hand drive; when Sherrie gets up in the morning and goes to the doctor, it's left-hand drive... and yet, she is shown driving on the left-hand side of the road, as they do in Australia.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Suzy: When people visit Sunshine Hills, they comment on the beauty, and the serenity. What they don't talk about, is the real theater resides in our minds. I recall the exact moment that our fear was born. It started when the teenage girls in our neighborhood were being abducted. And number 46 - the *bad* house, with an equally dubious history of rape, and murder - very few tenants.

User Reviews

A pretty uneven movie

"Beautiful" is one of those movies that can be described with style over substance. From the DVD Cover (which represents the opening scene of the movie) on you know the director is into stylish and kind of odd shots. At first I really had big hopes for this but problem with this kind of mysterious movies is that as soon as the mystery clears up and doesn't lead anywhere you are left with nothing. Exactly thats what I was left with after watching "Beautiful". The odd shots which seem quirky and fresh at first soon begin to annoy you because they just don't mean anything. You can basically see the final "twist" coming a mile away considering we are following a boy who is rather the strange outcast and his mother regularly mentioning that he is not living "in the real world". From here you get a mysterious detective story revolving around some abducted girls and a strange house with a lady constantly watching through the curtains. There are too many comparisons with cult movies like Donnie Darko (and scenes like the night views into the suburban windows and the score sure are close to it) or American Beauty which had an influence on the opening scene and the odd suburban setting. Anyway just because a movie steals visual gimmicks and obvious sound design from movies like these I don't see many similarities because the story has no grip and the storytelling is uneven and getting very stretched in the middle of the movie. The constant use of strange shots inter-cut with the plot gets a little annoying and could have been used a little more subtle. Anyway... biggest let-down like in many movies is the finale leaving too many loose ends especially about the boy and his family. Where the opening scene with the off-screen narration works fine the same element seems pretty stupid in the end. I guess its easy to make a "mysterious" movie but when the plot clears even if things are left unexplained to make the viewer think for himself... thats where a movie shows its substance. "Beautiful" left me with nothing, not caring about the characters and the unexplained parts of the story. So to compare the movie with movies like the fore-mentioned which left the viewer with many thoughts in his head is far off. Visually interesting but story-wise a disaster that has far too many lengthy moments.