Netflix’s Uglies trailer finds Joey King choosing ordinary over immaculate in McG’s long-awaited sci-fi adaptation

Last Updated on August 12, 2024

Some people say beauty is only skin deep, but what if you could change how you look at a cellular level? Would you embrace a procedure that augments your features, making you stereotypically beautiful? What if that beauty came with a one-way ticket to a society where every gorgeous person lords over those considered lesser-than? In Netflix’s Uglies trailer, Joey King stars as Tally Youngblood, a young woman awaiting her chance to become beautiful and take her place among the elite. However, when things don’t go as planned, Tally discovers a society that values natural beauty over enhanced features and snobbery.

McG (The Babysitter, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle) directs Uglies, based on Scott Westerfeld’s novel series. Initially planned as a trilogy, Uglies spans eight books, with a film adaptation taking more than 20 years in the making, coming to Netflix on September 13. The cast includes Keith Powers, Chase Stokes, Brianne Tju, Jan Luis Castellanos, Charmin Lee, Joey King, and Laverne Cox.

Netflix’s Uglies trailer gives off heavy YA vibes reminiscent of The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and the Divergent series. The trailer kicks off with Animal Collective’s feel-good jam “My Girls” from the band’s 2009 album Merriweather Post Pavillion. As the synth-heavy melody rains, McG’s Uglies tells a story about a superficial society that values beauty above all, creating a divide among people living in the trenches before they ascend to a non-stop party overflowing with flawless individuals. The commentary about disturbing beauty standards, conformity, and remaining true to yourself is overwhelming. Hopefully, Uglies is deeper than the shallow people it deems ideal.

Here’s the synopsis for the first book in Westerfield’s Uglies series:

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. In just a few weeks she’ll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty. And as a pretty, she’ll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally’s choice will change her world forever.

Netflix’s Uglies teaches us all a lesson in beauty being in the eye of the beholder on September 13.