What would you do if you lived in a world with enforced beauty standards? That’s the dystopian world that Uglies, coming to Netflix on Thursday, Sept. 13, is about.
Joey King stars as Tally Youngblood. It’s in a futuristic dystopian world where specific beauty standards are upheld. This means mandatory cosmetic surgery. Those who don’t agree are cast out of society.
The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Scott Westerfield. We follow Tally has she refuses to get the surgery when her friends show her what happens when someone becomes “pretty” after they turn 16.
While you wait, you’ll want to watch other shows that are book-to-screen adaptations. These are great for children, especially teenagers, as they figure out who they are and what they want to be as they get older.
3 dystopian book-to-screen adaptations to watch with the kids
The Divergent series
The three Divergent movies are a great place to start. I do wish the plan to finish the tale was followed through, but the first three movies are a good look into a world upholding specific ideals. The series follows a world that has been split into five factions. However, one faction wants to take out another, and they all want to wipe out those who are “Divergent,” which means they hold the qualities of all factions.
The movies follow Tris, who has grown up in Abnegation but chooses Dauntless when she gets older. There she meets Tobias, who chose that same path, and she learns about the plot to wipe out Abnegation. Can she stop it before it’s too late?
The Host
Do you need a story that involves aliens and body snatchers? The Host involves an unseen enemy that is taking over humans. For most, the human thoughts and feelings are taken over, but that’s not the case for Melanie Stryder. While she becomes a host for an alien, that alien ends up gaining her memories and emotions.
It leads to this alien realizing that her species may not be doing the right thing. Can she get humans to trust her when she wants to rebel and rise up against her own kind?
Ready Player One
How about something that’s more game-like? Set in a dystopian world where people spend more of their time in the online world, we follow a boy who embarks on a journey to find the digital Easter egg the creator of OASIS left behind before his death.
When he figures out the first part, he soon becomes the target for a company also after that digital Easter egg. With a group of friends who want the Easter egg for the right reasons, this one boy rebels against the bigger entity, but can he win?
After you make it through these five book-to-screen adaptation movies, it’ll be time to watch Uglies.