Stimulated by the success of the Hunger Games films, we have seen a whole Wave of young adult dystopias in the cinema. The Divergent series, for example, was a huge success, as were the adventures that led us through the Maze Runner labyrinth. Now Netflix is breathing new life into this subgenre.
With Ugly – Don’t Lose Your Face, the streamer has snapped up an exciting book template that attracted attention due to its premise when it was published: Ugly takes you to a World of beauty obsessionwhere young people go under the knife to achieve the perfect look.
Dystopian science fiction film on Netflix: First ugly trailer shows a dark vision of the future
Ugly – Don’t lose your face – Trailer (German) HD
The story of Ugly is 300 years in the future and presents us with a tough two-class society. On one side are the Pretties, on the other side are the Uglies – that is, the beautiful and the ugly people are strictly separated from each other. The “good” thing is: the Uglies can become Pretties.
All young people are invited to a ritual cosmetic surgery which transforms them into flawless-looking young adults. Protagonist Tally Youngblood, played by The Kissing Booth star Joey King, can’t wait for her operation. But then her whole world falls apart.
Until now, Tally has assumed that there is only one right way. But when her best friend, the rebellious Shay, goes against society’s rules, it becomes clear that we are in a disturbing dystopia Little by little, Tally finds out more shocking truths about her life.
Ugly is based on a four-part book series that was supposed to be made into a sci-fi blockbuster in 2006
Just like the Hunger Games in the state of Panem, Ugly is based on a novel, namely Uglies from 2005. It was written by Scott Westerfeld, who was also responsible for the sequels. By 2007, three more volumes had been published in the Uglies universe. They are entitled Pretties, Specials and Extras.
Already in 2006, the first plans existed to create the dystopia to the big screen. 20th Century Fox secured the rights at the time. However, the project never really got off the ground and the rights were eventually transferred to Netflix. In September 2020, the current version of Ugly was officially announced – with McG as director.
McG was one of the major blockbuster directors in Hollywood, who made a name for himself primarily through the Charlie’s Angels films. For a few years now, he has only been shooting for Netflix: The Babysitter (2017), Rim of the World (2019), The Babysitter: Killer Queen (2020), Family Switch (2023) and now Ugly.
New sci-fi film: When will Ugly be released on Netflix?
Ugly – Don’t lose your face celebrates on 13 September 2024 its premiere on Netflix. It is currently unclear whether the streamer is planning to make film adaptations of the other books. This will probably depend on the success of the first part. Will the Uglies saga be made into a film in its entirety or can we expect another canceled young adult series like The Giver, Chaos Walking, The 5th Wave and others? We will find out.