Story
Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) is a new girl at school. She is immediately disliked by fellow classmates Emily (Zoey Deutch) and Savannah (Tiffany Boone). People know that Lena is staying with her rich uncle, Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons). The townspeople fear Ravenwood because they think he is a Satanist. But Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) is drawn to Lena and thinks she is the girl he often sees in his dreams.
Ethan follows the reluctant Lena home, where he meets Uncle Macon for the first time. Ethan isn’t welcome in the house, and he’s told to keep away from Lena. He eventually discovers that Lena is a ‘caster’ – a witch – and that she’s approaching her 16th birthday, which is a very important date for female casters. On this day she’ll be claimed by good or evil. Lena is sure she’ll be claimed by evil because it is her family’s curse, but Ethan and Macon are determined she’ll be claimed by good.
Themes
The supernatural; witchcraft
Violence
This movie has quite a lot of supernatural violence. For example:
Sexual references
This movie has some sexual references. For example, Ridley wears provocative clothing and can seduce any man she wants, including Ethan’s friend Link.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
This movie shows some use of substances. For example:
- Characters drink wine at dinner.
- Some guys drink beer out of a bottle in the street.
Nudity and sexual activity
This movie has some sexual activity. For example:
- Lena and Ethan kiss passionately several times. On one occasion, this causes a nearby sign to burst into flame.
- Ridley and Link kiss passionately and seductively.
- Link and a girl kiss and make out on a bed (with clothes on).
Product placement
None of concern
Coarse language
This movie has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Beautiful Creatures is a fantasy romance based on the teenage novel of the same name. The frequent violence and some disturbing scenes make it unsuitable for children under 13 years. It’s more suited to an older teenage audience.
The main messages from this movie are to keep an open mind and to be tolerant of people who are different from you. The movie is also about making up your own mind and not being influenced by gossip.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include selflessness, sacrifice, kindness and tolerance. Another important value emphasised in the movie is judging people by who they really are and what they do, rather than by how they look.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues such as the following:
- This movie portrays Christians, in particular, as being very narrow-minded. Is this portrayal fair?
- The movie suggests that everyone can be good or evil. How do we choose one over the other, rather than leaving things to fate?