Review of Uglies, directed by McG

Before we get into the thick of it in this review and summary, I have a confession to make. I had never heard of Uglies or the series it was based on before I accidentally ended up watching this movie. I also did not notice when it dropped originally on Netflix, which is wild because I was glued to my subscription during this time.

Anyways, how did I end up watching this? Well, my nephews and niece were spending the night, and they needed something to do besides endlessly scrolling on their TikTok accounts. I opened up my Netflix account and started scrolling.

First they wanted to watch the Korean show All of Us Are Dead, which was surprising because they’re not very culturally aware, but then my mother shut that down when she noticed the bad words in the show. I then told them to pick something else, and that was how we ended up watching Uglies.

Let’s get into the review then before I start rambling too much!

In a world where people get surgeries to become “Pretties,” Tally is stuck between resistance and what she thinks she wants.

In this movie, Joey King stars as Tally Youngblood, who lives in a society after the collapse of the world as we know it. There were no natural resources left, so scientists then decided to create genetically modified orchids that would become the world’s new energy source.

They also made a surgical procedure where people would become their ideal selves; they tell everyone that in order to prevent chaos, everyone has to get the surgery when their turn sixteen. Before then, they are considered Uglies, and when they get the surgery, they become Pretties and are allowed to move into the main city.

Tally and her friends are all Uglies. Her best friend is Peris, and they make a promise for him not to remove their scars on their hands. He’s three months older, so he leaves for his surgery and Tally is optimistic.

However, when some time passes, Tally decides to sneak into the city because she misses him. She succeeds in doing so, but finds Peris at a party with a completely different personality and appearance. The scar is also gone, and she feels betrayed. She’s found in that moment and is forced to flee the city.

With Peris gone, she befriends Shay, who is another Ugly that wants to resist against what’s happening. It’s Shay who tells her about The Smoke, a place where people are living as Uglies and resisting the idea that they have to become Pretties. Shay then invites Tally to join her, and she says no.

Shay then leaves the dormitories for The Smoke. Soon, Tally is brought before the head scientist, Dr. Cable, and is asked where Shay is. Dr. Cable seems to think those in The Smoke are dangerous rebels looking to kill them all, and Dr. Cable gets Tally to go into The Smoke’s territory in order to get Shay back.

Tally does just that, and befriends David, the head of The Smoke. His parents are the scientists behind a search for the cure of the Pretties, as it turns out the surgery is just knocking off brain capacity to make you compliant and loyal to the cause. David’s parents have been looking for a cure after fleeing.

Turns out the orchids they grow for their energy is also absolutely terrible for the planet—go figure. Tally and David have a little bit of a romance, and she throws her tracker away to try and get away from her past. However, that just gives her location away, and Dr. Cable shows up, having turned Peris into a superhuman enforcer, and rounds up the rebels for surgery.

Everyone is a little more than mad though at having been betrayed by Tally, especially Shay. David’s father is killed in this scuffle, and he feels angry at Tally at first, too.

Tally and David escape, but then they bust back into the city to save everyone. They are unable to save Shay, who was sent for surgery first, and her Pretty version is airheaded and content with what happened to her. They get everyone out, with a sacrifice of Peris being thrown into a river, but then Tally volunteers to be the test subject to get the cure.

She gives herself up to Dr. Cable and gets the surgery. We end the movie with her still with her childhood scar as a Pretty, implying she probably took the cure.

Overall Thoughts

My first impression of this movie is that it should have been released more than ten years ago, when Hunger Games and Divergent were having their heyday. It wouldn’t have done as well as them, but it would have had a fandom maybe.

But in 2024, it doesn’t hold up. The screenplay is also really weak, as the plot jumps forward so quickly. Like David automatically forgives Tally as they plan to save everyone, then it’s never really brought up again.

Everything just happens so quick that I feel like I got whiplash watching this. It might’ve done better as a television series in hindsight, but now it feels like a bunch of mismatched puzzle pieces that were forced to be together.

Watch it if you’re interested, though! Taste is subjective. We might not agree with how the movie is, and that totally is fine.

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