Teen angst meets sci-fi in new Netflix movie Uglies.

An adaptation of Scott Westerfield’s series of novels, Uglies is set 300 years in the future in a post-scarcity world. Society has become image obsessed and everyone is subjected to cosmetic surgery when they turn 16, transforming them into an idealised version of themselves.

The movie follows Tally, played by Joey King, who is just days away from her big birthday and eagerly anticipating her transformation. But when she meets Shay, who shares her birthday, she discovers a rebel group who have fled to a wilderness area called the Smoke to avoid being transformed.

The authorities consider the rebels a threat, especially when it’s revealed the transformation includes a mind-altering process to induce conformity. Tally becomes embroiled in a plot to locate and capture the inhabitants of the Smoke.

It’s not clear whether the movie is adapted from just Westerfield’s first novel, which ends in something of a cliffhanger, or whether it draws from the rest of the series.

Uglies premieres on Netflix September 13.

References

Netflix Uglies | Official Trailer YouTube