IMDB SUMMARY:
Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Writers: Richard LaGravenese (screenplay)
SHE-WOLF SAYS…GO SEE IT
I recently read BEAUTIFUL CREATURES as part of the Girls, Guns, and Grimoires Goodreads Group read-a-long. I admit, it started off a bit slow for me but by the end of the book, I was completely won over. I looked forward to seeing the film adaptation and I had high expectations. I can honestly say I was not disappointed. Though the adaptation was not 100% faithful to the book, I understood why those changes were made. And for me, they worked. I think the changes improved the pacing, cut out some redundancy and made for a more exciting film version. The leads were fantastic – I especially loved Alden Ehrenreich as Ethan. There was a charming geekiness he brought to the character that I appreciated. Everyone was very good though I felt Emma Thompson may have overdone it at times. There were also moments when the music felt a bit too intrusive. Overselling a soundtrack is a pet peeve of mine. The ending was the true gem of this film. I cannot put into words how loved the ending. Even my curmudgeon of a husband whom I had to drag to the theater because he can’t stand YA romance movies or books, admitted the ending was good and made the film. It was very Streetcar Named Desire. Oh, young love…
So, if you’re a fan of the book, go see this film. If you’ve never read the book but want to see a well-done, angsty teen romance with a paranormal twist and nice special effects, go see this film!
A strong recommendation.
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my friend also really loved the movie. i haven’t read the book so i have no expectations really. i think i want to see it though since it looks kind of fun. plus, emma thompson.
It was a lot of fun. Different from the book but fun!
OK I will see it. I am a sucker for fantasy movies with rad special effects
I thought it was well-done. They changed a lot of the story so it’s not a faithful adaptation. That usually bothers me but it didn’t here.
I did like the very end of it. I thought it was a nice twist for a film adaptation. It’ll be interesting to see if they make more movies.
I wonder if they will make more movies from the series…I kind of don’t they will sense, in box office terms, it was a disappointment.