The Beauty drops viewers into a world where looks can be upgraded like an app. One shot can change everything. Bones shift. Bodies slim or fill out. Hair and eye color transform. Even aging slows down. It sounds like a dream. It comes with a price.
This new FX series from Ryan Murphy takes the idea of beauty and pushes it to the extreme. It is based on a comic by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley. In this world, a designer disease turns ordinary people into flawless versions of themselves. Some get it through injections. Others catch it through sex. The second version is far more dangerous.
The show stars Evan Peters, Rebecca Hall, Anthony Ramos, Ashton Kutcher, Jeremy Pope, and Isabella Rossellini. It is graphic. It is sensual. It is chaotic. Very Ryan Murphy. While the idea comes from the comic, the show tells a very different story.
In the series, Evan Peters plays FBI agent Cooper Madsen. Rebecca Hall plays his partner Jordan Bennett. They are investigating strange deaths tied to fashion models. In the comic, the main characters are different cops entirely. Their world and priorities do not match the show at all.
The villain also changes. On screen, Ashton Kutcher plays a billionaire tied directly to the drug. He will do anything to protect his empire. In the comic, there is no single big bad. Greed itself is the enemy. Corporations, governments, and powerful elites all play a role in letting the disease spread.
The transformation process is far more violent on TV. In the series, infected people suffer fevers, seizures, and brutal physical changes. Bones break. Strength spikes. After intense pain, they emerge reborn. In the comic, the change is quiet. People go to sleep and wake up beautiful.
The ending of the disease is also very different. On the show, perfection does not last long. Victims become manic. They grow dangerously thirsty. They kill. Then they explode from extreme heat. In the comic, there is no explosion. No warning. They simply burn from the inside out.
The scale of the story changes too. In the series, the Beauty is a mystery. Most people have no idea it exists. In the comic, it is everywhere. Millions are infected. People chase it. Entire clubs and communities form around it. At the same time, hate groups rise to stop it.
Those anti Beauty groups barely exist in the show. In the comic, they are important. Former scientists and civilians band together after being betrayed by powerful forces. They want to stop the damage before it spreads further.
The comic tells many stories at once. Heroes. Villains. People stuck in the middle. The show keeps things tighter and more personal. It focuses on fewer characters and deeper emotions.
Both versions ask the same question. How far would you go to be perfect. And is it ever worth it.
