Uglies (2024) Review: McG’s YA Adaptation is a Generic Dystopian Drama

Suspension of disbelief proves to be a tall order for Uglies. Based on Scott Westerfeld’s 2005 novel of the same name and directed by McG (not the most reliable filmmaker, given his wildly inconsistent track record), we are supposed to accept the fact that the otherwise photogenic Joey King looks “ugly” in this movie. She plays the main character named Tally, whose physical imperfection lies in her squinty eyes. But seriously, her eyes looked fine to me and I didn’t see anything visible that resembled “squinty”. Or maybe the word “squinty” means differently in movie language (the story takes place in the dystopian future) than in the real world.

Anyway, Tally is given the nickname “Squint” by her only best friend, Peris (Chase Stokes). Just like Tally, he also belongs to one of the “uglies”. His physical flaw? He has an “ugly” nose and yet, Chase Stokes’ movie-star good looks made me hard to believe otherwise. We learn that anyone who reaches their 16th birthday will be selected to undergo surgical procedures for beautification. These people are known as “Pretties” and unlike their mundane life living in highly restricted, prison-like quarters, they get to enjoy to the fullest in the vibrant and colourful city.

So, when Peris’ moment has finally arrived, he can’t wait to see himself with a pretty look and they promise to meet under the bridge in a month. Except the time never comes so she risks her life sneaking into the city. However, her subsequent encounter with Peris, who looks picture-perfect, even though his post-cosmetic surgery made him uglier than he originally appeared in the first place.

But for the sake of the story in this movie, that’s how the beauty standards are deemed acceptable, albeit Peris looking like a beauty filter suffers from excessive augmentation. Peris seems to forget about Tally and is no longer the person he used to be. This, in turn, saddens Tally.

Soon, she meets Shay (Brianne Tju), a rebel and an expert at riding a hoverboard straight out of Back to the Future Part II. They become friends and it doesn’t take long before Shay attempts to convince Tally to join the resistance led by David (Keith Powers), who lives freely with other rebels deep in the wilderness called “The Smoke”. Tally decides to stick to the mandatory surgical procedure while Shay leaves for The Smoke.

On the day of Tally’s 16th birthday, she finds her procedure has been cancelled. Dr Cable (Laverne Cox), the leader who oversees the entire operation, demands to know about Shay’s whereabouts and in return, Tally will be granted for the procedure. So, Tally is given a mission: Travel to The Smoke and infiltrate the resistance as a spy.

Just two months ago, Joey King stole the show from Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman in the otherwise cliché rom-com, A Family Affair. But in Uglies, the charismatic King is seen going through the motions. The same also goes for the rest of the actors but the worst thing comes from McG’s disappointingly generic direction, lacking the necessary flair both visually and narratively speaking. The CGI such as the action revolving around the hoverboard suffers from middling to poor special effect works. The stakes are low and the whole story isn’t only ludicrous but also heavily hampered by exposition dump and monotonous pacing.

Uglies is supposed to be the start of a franchise since Scott Westerfeld’s novel series has three more books to go including Pretties, Specials and Extras. But given the feeble execution of the first movie alone, it was already DOA and without a doubt, one of the worst films I’ve ever come across this year.

Uglies is currently streaming on Netflix.