Across the broad spectrum of popular culture, the image associated with the 'Disney' brand is generally quite clear. For a long time, it has stood as a renowned animation powerhouse that instilled dreams and hopes in people all over the world, establishing itself as the epitome of 'family-friendly content' that the whole family can safely watch together in the living room. Therefore, there exists a kind of preconceived notion or prejudice that productions made or distributed by Disney will inherently exclude excessively violent or sexually explicit elements, as well as any morally controversial and unconventional depictions. However, amidst the fierce competition with various global OTT platforms recently, the original series presented by Disney+ are boldly shattering these existing molds, as if mocking the public's complacent expectations.
The mature-rated (for audiences 19 and older) original drama The Beauty, released through the Disney+ platform, is one of the representative works that most starkly demonstrates this unconventional move. When the public encounters the beautiful and elegant title The Beauty, they naturally tend to think of a glamorous success story set against the backdrop of the beauty industry or a romance drama highlighted by stunning mise-en-scène. However, upon opening the lid, the inner workings of this drama are the exact opposite of the expectations set by the title; it is incredibly dark, decadent, and filled with violent depictions that intensely stimulate the senses. The planning and execution that tackle humanity's most primal obsession with 'beauty' and twist it into the grotesque body horror and crime thriller genres are highly outstanding.
The shocking identity of this drama is revealed without any filter right from the opening sequence of the first episode. As soon as the show begins, a beautiful model walking down a brilliantly lit runway appears. Looking absolutely flawless, she suddenly seems to be engulfed by an unknown, extreme anxiety and terror. She abruptly stops walking down the runway and wildly dashes off the stage. Her frantic sprinting, completely disregarding the bewildered stares of the people around her, goes beyond a simple incident. It acts as a powerful suspense that signals the prelude to the bizarre and gruesome events that will soon unfold, instantly pulling the viewers' attention deep into the screen.
Escaping the runway and barging into an ordinary cafe, the model, in a state of extreme agitation, urgently demands water. During this process, she doesn't merely lose her reason and turn violent; she begins to exert superhuman strength that even several adult men combined cannot possibly subdue. Displaying an abnormal physical power that easily throws off large men while complaining of endless thirst, her entire body soon begins to swell, and she ultimately meets a horrific end, literally exploding with a loud "pop." This bizarre and gruesome explosion scene, where red blood splatters everywhere and pieces of flesh are scattered all around, is not an imagination or a fantasy, but a real event occurring in the undeniable reality of the drama. As the FBI officially intervenes to investigate this, the massive mystery of the drama raises its curtain.
Intersecting with the main narrative of the FBI tracking the horrific anomaly that occurred to such a beautiful model, the drama sheds light on the story of another character, intensely satirizing the lookism of modern society. The beauty industry workers appearing in the show all inexplicably possess bizarre and exaggerated appearances due to excessive plastic surgery and makeup, evoking a strange sense of discomfort. Against this backdrop, an episode follows a severely overweight Black man who undergoes full-body plastic surgery at a massive cost to overcome his complex. Through the surgery, he firmly believes he has been reborn as a perfectly attractive man and dreams of a completely new life.
Unfortunately, general plastic surgery relying on the power of modern medicine alone could not yield the dramatic results he desired. Filled with blind confidence that he has become handsome, he tries to seduce women, but the reality is cold and cruel. The women who drank with him and showed a favorable attitude leave him behind and secretly run away before even paying the bill, handing him a humiliating experience. Faced with the miserable reality of still being thoroughly ignored by the opposite sex, he is engulfed in extreme anger and a sense of betrayal. Eventually, losing his grip on reason, he seeks out the doctor who performed his surgery, pointing a gun at him and committing the extreme act of threatening his life.
Crushed by the murderous intent of the Black man about to pull the trigger, the plastic surgeon, in a desperate bid to survive, ends up revealing a secret: the existence of an "ultimate method that shows immediate effects," which completely collapses general medical common sense. Following the doctor's urgent instructions, a woman with incredibly captivating looks enters the room, and the two suddenly engage in sexual intercourse right there. This plot development, which demands direct and explicit physical communion with another person as a means to cure a disease or improve one's appearance, once again firmly reminds us that the level of provocativeness and unconventionality this drama aims for far exceeds ordinary expectations.
What is even more shocking are the physical changes that happen to the Black man immediately after the intercourse. He begins to writhe like a beast in excruciating pain as the bones in his entire body grotesquely snap and twist. Going through a grotesque hatching process where he tears out of his existing thick skin shell, much like an insect molting, he undergoes a complete metamorphosis into a flawless, sculpted handsome man, leaving absolutely no trace of his former self. Intoxicated by uncontrollable confidence the moment he faces his flawless appearance in the mirror, he indulges in countless women, as if trying to be compensated for his past wounds, and falls into a corrupted life akin to a debauchee.
The drama The Beauty pieces together the narrative puzzle by revealing that this series of shocking events are all triggered by a fatal virus fittingly named 'The Beauty.' This bizarre virus, transmitted through sexual intercourse with others, grants the infected perfect beauty and superhuman strength, but it is ultimately a double-edged sword that brings about a horrific tragedy. In terms of directing, this work unapologetically displays cruel and provocative scenes raw on the screen without compromise, even those that could have been handled metaphorically by relying on the viewers' imagination. The visually stimulating cinematography, which captivates the eyes yet sometimes makes one want to look away, functions as the unique and unrivaled identity of this drama.
The overall plot revolves around the process of tracking down the CEO of the massive corporation behind the scenes who first developed and distributed this horrifyingly destructive virus. Although it is difficult to fully grasp the clear causal relationship of why the medium for this fatal virus was specifically set as sexual intercourse based only on the premise in the early episodes, it allows us to guess that there will be a sharp critique of lookism hidden beneath it. Consisting of a total of 11 episodes, with each episode running for just about 30 to 40 minutes, this work can be enjoyed with a fast-paced tempo. It will surely deliver an excellent visual shock to those who are tired of predictable genre works and crave a thriller with a unique and unconventional subject matter.
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