Movie Review: Beautiful Creatures (2013)
Posted By Michelle Ealey on February 16, 2013
Beautiful Creatures tells the love story of Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) and Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich), two teenagers living in the small southern town of Gatlin, South Carolina. Their love is tender and true, but their love is also forbidden because he is a regular human and she is a Caster.
Of course Beautiful Creatures takes place in Gatlin, the quintessential small southern town. The people love Jesus with the type of fervor that scorns all outsiders and everything unknown. The church bans books, teenagers believe everything their mommas tell them, and everyone takes part in the reenactment of the famous Civil War battle. Magic can happen here, in places tucked out of sight. The bayou hides secrets, and the overgrown plantation mansion must have a reclusive mysterious resident. Gatlin perpetuates the idea of Southern Mysticism so much that revelations of the truth are not a surprise because when it happens, you say to yourself, “But of course it’s this way.” In this type of town, it couldn’t be any other way.
We learn a lot about Gatlin and its residents because the film spends a lot of time with Ethan. He is a dreamer, longing to go to any college that is far, far away from Gatlin. Of course he would be attracted to Lena. The film stresses repeatedly that Ethan enjoys the forbidden; he makes it a point to read books banned by the local church in public. He used to go out with a “regular” girl, a girl who believes in Jesus, in Satan, and avoiding all forms of corruption, but Ethan has grown beyond her. He is his own person. When classmates tease Lena, Ethan tells Lena that he is not like the others. He is different. He is worthy of her company. He is worthy of her love.
Ehrenreich and Englert have great chemistry. Their banter when they first meet is quick, charming, and funny. Many of their exchanges are humorous, showing they are intellectual equals. Lena has moved around a lot, so she’s not used to forming connections with people, but Ethan’s smile and genuine interest in her brings down her guard. Englert and Ehrenreich do an excellent job of showing Lena and Ethan falling in love.
The supporting actors do a lot with what little they are given. The supporting characters are archetypes, but the performers actually make them interesting. Jeremy Irons plays Macon Ravenwood, the mysterious recluse who owns half the town. Macon is suave, cultured, and protective of his niece Lena. His closeness with Ethan’s mother is not fully explained, but we know he cared about her by the expressions on Irons’ face. The way Irons carries his body conveys that Macon has more than a few skeletons in his closet; Irons’ Macon is fascinating, a person I would like to have tea with. Viola Davis is Amma, a seer; basically, she is the Mystical Black Woman. The way Davis and Irons take moments to exchange glances show Amma and Macon have history. Davis’ Amma looks caringly at Ethan; she knew his mother, and she wants to take care of him.
This is one of the problems I have with the film. Ethan’s mother is mentioned a lot. Her gravestone is one of the first images of the film, but we aren’t told why she is important. She was a writer who knew Macon and considered the library her church, but she’s not even seen in a flashback. I don’t understand why so many moments are about her when her importance, if she has one beyond being Ethan’s mother, is not explained.
It’s a turbulent time in Lena’s life. She is about to turn 16. In the Caster world, it is the time of her Claiming. Female Casters don’t get to choose which side, light or dark, they want to be. Their true nature is read by the magic, and they are claimed by the side their true nature is. Lena’s cousin Ridley (Emmy Rossum) wanted to be light, but she ran away when she felt herself going dark. Ridley and Lena used to be close, and when they reunite, things are tense. Ridley is a Siren, she can make others do what she wants; she’s the evil seductress, but Rossum gives us subtle hints that perhaps she doesn’t relish being dark as she lets on.
The person who wants Lena to turn dark is her mother, Sarafine (Emma Thompson), the evil that wants to rule the world. Thompson creates two characters, the Bible thumping Mrs. Lincoln and the powerful Sarafine, and gives each their own characteristics while effortlessly transitioning between the two. The way Sarafine reveals herself to Macon demonstrates her power, which is why I expected a big showdown by the end of the film. There is a confrontation, but I was disappointed how the conflict with Sarafine was resolved.
Another problem with Beautiful Creatures is the obstacle standing in the way of Lena and Ethan being together. There is a curse. During the Civil War, Lena’s ancestor, Genevieve Duchannes, loved a human. Her lover got shot and died in front of her. Devastated, Genevieve did the forbidden: she used a spell to resurrect him. The spell drove her mad, and she killed her love and used her power to kill the soldiers around her. According to Macon, nothing good can come from loving a human, and he uses Genevieve as the example, the only example. However, Casters can die from bullet wounds, so I think Genevieve would have resurrected her love whether he was human or Caster. The film doesn’t really explain why Casters can’t love humans. It’s not like the human-vampire relationship in Twilight; the obstacle is clear in Twilight: Edward is dating food, so he has to resist eating Bella and protect her from other vampires who want to eat her. I understand Macon wants to break the curse and hopes Lena turns light, and he worries her love for Ethan will corrupt her, but I’m not sure if it is Macon’s fears or actual rules that say Ethan and Lena shouldn’t be together because a consequence for a Caster loving a human isn’t clarified.
There is a lot of lore to explain in Beautiful Creatures, and that is the biggest problem with the film. Taking time for exposition can slow down a movie, but without vital information, the conflicts in the film don’t make sense. A curse, a love story, explanations of Caster powers, a secret library, the Claiming, plots to take over the world, family relationships, and the past are all packed into the film, forcing viewers to keep track of a lot. The film has strong performances, beautiful scenery and costumes, a tender love story, and the way the curse is broken is clever, but the film struggles to balance all of its needs, a struggle that reduces the film to a confusing mess.
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