After the wild success of the Twilight films, many other studios attempted to capture that same magic by making film adaptations of popular young adult books. While they all had varying degrees of box office and critical acclaim, one such adaptation flew mostly under the radar, just barely making a profit in theaters and earning low scores from critics and audiences alike. That film is 2013’s Beautiful Creatures.
Inspired by the book of the same name by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures was written for the screen and directed by Richard LaGravenese (Freedom Writers, P.S. I Love You). It follows two teens, Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich) and Lena (Alice Englert), in a small South Carolina town as they fall in love and try to break a generational curse. While the story is told primarily from Ethan’s perspective, the film is really about Lena’s Uterus Horror journey.
On the surface, Beautiful Creatures looks like a typical teen romantic drama. But if you look deeper, it’s a Southern gothic romance incorporating supernatural and horror elements into a coming-of-age story. Ethan has lived in rural Gatlin his entire life, desperate to leave and experience the world. Lena is the new girl in town, immediately shunned by most of her peers because she’s the niece of Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons), a rich local recluse rumored to practice witchcraft. Despite this, Ethan is drawn to Lena. As the two become close, Lena reveals her family is different. They refer to themselves as “casters,” or what “mortals” might call a witch. When Lena turns 16, her true nature will be revealed, and her powers will be claimed for the light or the dark.
Macon has been keeping secrets from Lena. The reason female casters are claimed for the light or dark when they turn 16 is because of a curse dating back to the Civil War. Lena’s ancestor, Genevieve (Rachel Brosnahan), was a powerful caster in love with a mortal. After he’s shot in battle, Genevieve uses a forbidden spell to bring him back to life, ultimately turning her to the dark. Through hours of research in a secret caster library, Lena uncovers the way to break the curse: someone she loves has to die. Assuming this means Ethan, Lena uses her magic to make him forget they were ever together.
In many cultures, a girl’s 16th birthday is when she becomes a young woman. It’s a significant rite of passage, but for Lena it has a very different importance. She has no control over whether she will be good or evil. However, this is something only unique to the women in Lena’s family of casters. Men, on the other hand, can choose to be light or dark. Macon himself was a dark caster, but he chooses to be light in order to help his niece. It makes the moment these young women reach their full powers far more significant than it is for the men. It also speaks to how men often have the ability to decide their own fates, while women either have fewer choices or have the decision made for them.
On top of everything Lena is dealing with throughout Beautiful Creatures, she also has outside forces trying to influence her fate. Macon might have good intentions, but he constantly lies and manipulates to control Lena, thinking this will help turn her to the light. At the same time, others are trying to manipulate Lena to turn her powers to the dark. Lena’s dark caster cousin, Ridley (Emmy Rossum), returns to town to help Lena’s dark caster mother, Sarafine, whom Lena thought was dead. Sarafine chooses to hide in plain sight, possessing the deeply religious Mavis (Emma Thompson) as a way to manipulate the town, Ethan, and Lena.
At the climax of the film, as Lena is about to discover her true nature, Macon plays one final trick on his beloved niece. Sarafine and Ridley orchestrate events so Ethan is shot during a reenactment of the same Civil War battle that triggered the curse. Yet Macon was a step ahead of them, using a glamour to turn himself into Ethan and sacrificing his life. Because Lena loves her uncle, his death breaks the curse and saves her from being claimed by the dark.
Even if Lena wasn’t “special,” her journey would still be a compelling work of Uterus Horror. The women descended from Genevieve have been cursed for generations. They no longer had a choice between dark or light, despite the men in the family being able to switch at will. This inability to choose your own path makes the time leading up to her 16th birthday far more stressful and dangerous. It doesn’t help that outside forces constantly attempt to influence Lena, guiding her in multiple directions. Macon pulled strings behind the scenes to turn Lena toward the light, while at the same time, Ridley and Sarafine work their spells to drive Lena to the dark. The only one who trusts Lena to remain herself through it all isEthan, only ever wanting to help.
When Macon told Lena to claim herself, it revealed a different path for Lena that no caster had ever taken. She was not claimed by the light or the dark. Instead, she masters both and continues to hone her powers with the help of the caster library. Many young women growing up feel their options are limited, but Lena serves as an inspiration: she is able to choose a path for herself rather than being directed by fate. It’s a powerful message to young women discovering themselves, making it known they don’t have to be limited to the lives outside forces push them toward. It’s about finding what’s right for you. What’s more, the end of Beautiful Creatures shows Lena tapping into both light and dark power. It speaks to the good and evil inside everyone; a person isn’t defined by where their power comes from, but instead from what they do with that power.
Beautiful Creatures might be a bit light on the horror, but it’s still a worthy addition to the Uterus Horror subgenre. The plot has everything fans expect from this kind of coming-of-age film: a young outsider at a turning point in her life; first love, and finding oneself. The only difference being its young adult focus, which allows Lena’s story to be more accessible to younger audiences at an age when they’re discovering themselves. This is a Uterus Horror film parents can watch with their preteens and teens, delivering fun gateway horror with an important message about growing up.
About this series: in a genre typically considered “for the guys,” it’s time to give a nod to the ladies. Uterus Horror is a subgenre of horror films that focuses on the uniquely female experience of puberty and the act of coming into your sexuality, using horror elements to emphasize and/or act as a metaphor for that experience. These films are often ignored in theaters but quickly develop cult followings. Columnist Molly Henery, who named and defined the subgenre, tackles a new film each month and analyzes how it fits into this bloody new corner of horror.
