Common Sense Media Review
By S. Jhoanna Robledo
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Lackluster romance is heavy on lessons about superficiality.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Beastly
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 15 parent reviews
Parents say this movie offers a lighthearted and cheesy take on a modern fairy tale about love and acceptance, which is particularly appealing for tweens and teens despite some excessive language and mild sexual innuendos present. While the film highlights important messages around self-love and treating others well, it has drawn mixed responses regarding the depth of its characters and the adaptation from the original book.
- teen fantasy appeal
- language concerns
- positive messages
- character development issues
- mixed adaptation opinions
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Based on 50 kid reviews
What's the Story?
Inspired by the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast and based on the novel by Alex Flinn, BEASTLY takes place in present-day Brooklyn and centers on an arrogant, handsome, popular teenager named Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) who must learn about love and humility the hard way. A classmate known to be a witch (Mary-Kate Olsen) puts a hex on him, transforming him into a disfigured, tattooed, bald creature. His way out? Finding a girl who will love him as he is, and for all the right reasons. And he has to find her within one year -- or else he'll stay the way he is forever. Could Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) -- a down-to-earth scholarship student -- be the one, or is Kyle bound to be undone by his terrible reputation?
Is It Any Good?
BEASTLY lives up to its name: It's inert, unexciting, and sometimes laughable, and not in an intentional way. When the best part of your movie is a supporting actor who appears to be channeling his most popular character from a sitcom -- in this case, Neil Patrick Harris as Will, who seems like a blind version of How I Met Your Mother's Barney -- you know you're in trouble.
Start with the movie's definition of ugly, for instance. Rather than make pretty boy Pettyfer downright hideous (which is called for in this case), Beastly wimps out and goes for a tattooed, slashed, punk-rock skinhead look, with a dose of allergy-induced-looking inflammation here and there. Then there's the tone, which is ambivalent at best. Is Beastly a supernatural mystery, a high school drama, or a romcom? (Our money is on supernatural mystery, which it abandons fairly quickly.) And what about chemistry? Pettyfer and Hudgens have none. Some storylines, like Kyle's dynamic with his father (Peter Krause), seem promising, and the film's look isn't half-bad (it has a brooding, midnight-in-the-city vibe). And Harris is always a win, whatever role he plays. But honestly, Beastly is pretty blah.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why the witch puts a curse on Kyle when other people at school are superficial and mean, too. How can behavior like that be addressed in real life?
How does the behavior of the teens in this movie compare to how kids treat each other in reality? Does the fantasy element make it seem less hurtful?
What would you say the movie's message is?
Movie Details
- In theaters : March 4, 2011
- On DVD or streaming : June 28, 2011
- Cast : Alex Pettyfer , Mary-Kate Olsen , Vanessa Hudgens
- Director : Daniel Barnz
- Inclusion Information : Queer Movie Director(s) , Female Movie Actor(s) , Asian Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : CBS Films
- Genre : Science Fiction
- Run time : 95 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : language including some crude comments, drug references and brief violence
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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