| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Alden Ehrenreich | ... | Ethan Wate | |
| Alice Englert | ... | Lena Duchannes | |
| Jeremy Irons | ... | Macon Ravenwood | |
| Viola Davis | ... | Amma | |
| Emmy Rossum | ... | Ridley Duchannes | |
| Thomas Mann | ... | Link | |
| Emma Thompson | ... | Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine | |
| Eileen Atkins | ... | Gramma | |
| Margo Martindale | ... | Aunt Del | |
| Zoey Deutch | ... | Emily Asher | |
| Tiffany Boone | ... | Savannah Snow | |
| Rachel Brosnahan | ... | Genevieve Duchannes | |
| Kyle Gallner | ... | Larkin Ravenwood | |
| Pruitt Taylor Vince | ... | Mr. Lee | |
| Robin Skye | ... | Mrs. Hester | |
Teenager Ethan Wate is obsessed with his urge to finish high school and go on to college in order to leave the small town of Gatlin, South Carolina behind, until a mysterious girl begins to inhabit his dreams. When he meets Lena Duchannes, a newcomer who has just enrolled in his school, Ethan knows she is the girl in his dreams. Lena is rejected by the rest of her classmates for being the niece of Macon Ravenwood, whom the town's superstitious residents consider to be a devil-worshiper. But Ethan gives her a ride anyway and they fall in love. Lena reveals to her new boyfriend that she is a witch, and that on her sixteenth birthday she will be claimed by either the forces of light or of darkness. She will remain in the light, but only if she does not remain in love with Ethan. To make matters worse, her evil mother, Sarafine, is casting spells to push Lena to the dark side. Ethan joins her in a search to find a magic spell to save their doomed love. Will the lovers succeed? Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
A common criticism of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is that it doesn't do justice to the original novel, which is often the case when the book is really good. I had not read the book prior to watching this but am now eager to do so.
Regardless, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is vividly filmed with good performances by Alice Englert, Alden Ehrenreich, Emmy Rossum, Rachel Brosnahan, and just about everyone else. Another frequent complaint seems to be that there is not enough in the magic/special effects department: True, but the relative sparseness here adds a necessary realism and highlights what spectactics the film does have. The townspeople of Gatlin, South Carolina, are stereotypical Bible-thumping yokel-rubes, but that serves its purpose in the way it contrasts Lena (Englert), who is just about the only character who does not speak in a deep-southern accent. It also helps in how Ethan (Ehrenreich) and his buddy Link (Thomas Mann) completely defy their hickish appearances. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES captures the whole Southern Gothic tradition quite well. One way or another, the relationships in this film are very real. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES also walks the thin horror-comedy line most admirably.
On the dimmer end of things, the whole texture of the film is a little slow and murky, and it would probably have been a little better with a few minutes cut here and there.