Beautiful Creatures parents guide

Beautiful Creatures Parent Guide

Though well acted, edited, paced and filmed, "Beautiful Creatures" is replete with contradictions

Overall C-

Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) comes from a family of witches and she was born with unusual powers. But it is still undecided whether those gifts will be chosen for light or dark. While waiting for her fate to be decided she meets and falls in love with a mortal boy (Alden Ehrenreich), which significantly complicates her future.

Release date February 12, 2013

Violence C
Sexual Content C
Profanity C
Substance Use C

Why is Beautiful Creatures rated PG-13? The MPAA rated Beautiful Creatures PG-13 for violence, scary images and some sexual material.

Run Time: 124 minutes

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Parent Movie Review

Beautiful Creatures pits religion against supernatural forces and does it under the guise of promoting tolerance. On one side are the stereotypical small town religious zealots who gather at the local church to drive out newcomer Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert). The teen recently moved in with her reclusive uncle Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons) and since her arrival weird things have begun happening in the southern community of Gatlin, South Carolina.

Lena and Macon, however, aren’t the only supernaturals that belong to a coven of witches, more accurately called Casters. Among the others who gather for the family’s harvest dinner are Gramma (Eileen Atkins), Aunt Del (Margo Martindale) and cousin Larkin (Kyle Gallner). Despite the fact that the group has little use for humans and their silly obsessions with love, faith and sacrifice, they still come off looking surprisingly better than their mortal neighbors. Lena’s estranged mother Sarafine (Emma Thompson) has long since embraced the dark side along with Lena’s other cousin Ridley (Emmy Rossum). While Sarafine yearns for ultimate power, Ridley likes to use men then casts them off with little regard.

Hiding out in the body of a religious fanatic named Mrs. Lincoln, Sarafine does her best to lure her daughter to join her in her quest to rid the world of mankind. But her persuasive efforts seem pointless since, according to the script, female casters do not have a choice in the matter. We are told that by nature they are either good or bad. Even they have no knowledge of which way they will go until they are “claimed” for one side or the other on their 16th birthday. In the meantime, unable to control her growing powers, Lena blows out the windows of the school, starts a town sign on fire and causes unusual weather occurrences in the small town.

In the midst of the drama determining her future, Lena falls in love with Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich), a local boy who refuses to be swayed by the opinions of his classmates (Zoey Deutch, Tiffany Boone) who bully Lena from her first day in school. His religion is knowledge and he takes pleasure in reading every banned book he can get his hands on. And although her relatives warn him about the dangers of forming an attachment with a caster, Ethan relishes the thrill of the unknown and refuses to leave her alone.

Though well acted, edited, paced and filmed, Beautiful Creatures is replete with contradictions—the least of which is choice vs. destiny. (Either Lena can pick sides on her 16th birthday or she can’t. The script can’t make up its mind.) Deity vs. Satan, light vs. darkness, faith vs. knowledge and tolerance vs. bigotry are among the other opposing themes the story tries to cover in a convincing way without ever taking a definitive stand. Rather it seems the film attempts to appease everyone at one point or another.

With a much stronger plotline and cast than the Twilight series, Beautiful Creatures, based on the novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, may fill a need for teens left looking for the next best thing. Yet the strength of the production may be the problem for parents concerned about the impact this positive depiction of witchcraft and dark arts may have on impressionable young teens—especially those who believe their life path is determined by fate and not choice.

Directed by Richard LaGravenese. Starring Alice Englert, Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons, Alden Ehrenreich. Running time: 124 minutes. Theatrical release February 12, 2013. Updated

Beautiful Creatures
Rating & Content Info

Why is Beautiful Creatures rated PG-13? Beautiful Creatures is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for violence, scary images and some sexual material.

Violence: Characters are shot and killed during war scenes. Some blood is shown. Students receive bloody cuts when the glass in a window blows out. Characters are tossed, spun, entangled and choked. A new student is bullied at school. A man is lured onto the tracks and hit but a train. Characters discuss death. A house is shown engulfed in flames.

Sexual Content: A teen and adult couple engage in heavy, passionate kissing. A teen couple kisses frequently. Sexual activity between young couples is implied.

Language: The script contains numerous mild and moderate profanities, scatological slang and terms of Deity. Some crude sexual comments and innuendo are also included.

Alcohol / Drug Use: Teens are served wine at dinner. A group of men are seen walking down the street with beer bottles in hand.

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Beautiful Creatures Parents' Guide

Are there any positive portrayals of religious individuals in this story? In contrast, how are the casters depicted? Are their both positive and negative individuals? Why does Sarafine decide to inhabit the body of Mrs. Lincoln?

Do faith and knowledge have to be exclusive?

During a church service the pastor talks about the elements of sacrifice. Do you think sacrifice means having to suffer or give something up that you can’t live without? What are the difficulties of sacrifice? What benefits may come from making sacrifices?

If you believe in God, do you agree with Amma’s (Viola Davis) statement that, “He won’t give you anything you can’t handle?” Do you believe in choice or destiny? Why?

Why have some books been banned during different eras? Why is Ethan so eager to read those books in his library?

This movie is based on a book by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, which is part of a larger series.

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Beautiful Creatures movie is May 21, 2013. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Beautiful Creatures

Release Date: 21 May 2013

Beautiful Creatures releases to home video (Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet Digital Copy or DVD) with the following extras:

- Deleted Scenes

- Book to Screen

- The Casters

- Between Two Worlds

- Forbidden Romance

- Alternate Worlds

- Designing the Costumes

- Theatrical Trailers

-Book Trailer: “Icons” by Margaret Stohl

Related home video titles:

The mysteries of the occult have become popular fodder for novels, which have in turn been made into movies. As examples take the Harry Potter Franchise and The Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn - Part 1 and Part 2). Forbidden love between mortals and immortals can also be found in The Lord of the Rings, Warm Bodies and Hotel Transylvania.