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Thursday, March 19, 2026

THE BEAUTY Season One

Ashton Kutchner
THE BEAUTY (2026 TV series). Season One. Co-produced by Ryan Murphy.  

FBI agents Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall), who claim they are just "casually" involved with each other, stumble across an incredible conspiracy engineered by billionaire Byron Forst (Vincent D'Onofrio, then Ashton Kutchner). A scientist in the sociopathic Forst's employ has come up with "the Beauty," an all-purpose, essentially instant chemical injection that can turn a person younger and more attractive once they emerge from a kind of plastic cocoon. Unfortunately, after three years or so those who take the Beauty may literally explode, as happens to several crazed fashion models. The Beauty is essentially a plague, and can be sexually transmitted, bypassing the injection, although the results in that case are even more uncertain. Jordan, who has sex with a hot guy who took the treatment, becomes younger and sexier (turning into Jess Alexander), Cooper undergoes a startling transformation, and one poor teenage girl ... Millions of people would hock their souls to get the treatment, but is the cost too high, and what about the horrific side effects undergone by some patients?

Isabella Rossellini
Based on a graphic novel, The Beauty, which has quite a few satiric targets, can be dumb, but it is also fascinating, suspenseful, odd, very gross at times, and I must admit highly enjoyable, a sort of guilty pleasure. Kutchner gives a ferociously mesmerizing performance as the utterly self-centered and evil younger version of Forst, and the other players -- including Anthony Ramos as a hit man employed and then betrayed by Forst -- are on the money. Isabella Rossellini is Forst's sarcastic and uncompromising wife, who seems to completely detest him, and Ben Platt is perhaps overly campy as a guy who gets infected when a model bursts into pieces at a public function. Viewers might see some similarities to The Substance, but the Beauty graphic novel was published several years before the Demi Moore movie.

Verdict: Compelling and slick horror series. Let's hope there's a season two. ***. 

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4 comments:

  1. angelman66March 19, 2026 at 5:17 PM

    I agree, it's a guilty pleasure and VERY dumb but of course can't stop watching. I'm a sucker for all the beauties who appear so generously undraped in scene after scene, including the still-very-handsome Mr. Kutcher. Isabella Rosselini is a hoot, too! I won't stop watching till it's over, even though it's not very good...I'm sure you know where my bread is buttered, Bill. Love that you covered this one!
    -Chris

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  2. WilliamMarch 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM

    Glad we agree on this very bizarre series. I hope it continues. Not surprised it's based on a comic book because it proceeds on the level of logic of (old) comic books. But as you say, you just can't look away no matter how gross it gets. And as you also say, there's some prime eye candy in there. Rossellini -- great casting! -- gets some of the best lines. Can't wait to see what Evan Peters has turned into after his switch into a 12-year-old. Hope he's an adult this time! By the way, the whole bit with people exploding wasn't in the graphic novel -- that was invented for the show.

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  3. angelman66April 4, 2026 at 6:28 PM

    Did not know it was based on a comic book. That explains a lot...

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  4. WilliamApril 4, 2026 at 6:45 PM

    Sure does!

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