A new Netflix movie that stars Joey King and is set in a grim future has been dubbed a cross between sci-fi drama Black Mirror and the Hunger Games franchise.
2024 has been a strange year for sci-fi, featuring the high of Dune 2 and the low of Rebel Moon 2. The best dystopian feature of the year was Furiosa, but that didn’t make nearly as much money as its Fury Road predecessor.
Now Netflix is getting in on that dystopian act, with a new feature from director McG, based on the Scott Westerfeld books, and a screenplay by Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, and Whit Anderson. The official synopsis reads:
“In a futuristic world that imposes cosmetic surgery at 16, Tally is eager for her turn to join the rest of society. But when a friend runs away, Tally embarks on a journey to save her that upends everything she thought she wanted.”
Joey King plays Tally, who wants to be “pretty,” but soon realizes that the mandatory plastic surgery required to make that change also does something terrible to your mind.
Tally becomes something of a revolutionary, like Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. And comparisons between the two are coming thick and fast, with one commentator writing on Twitter/X: “Uglies is trying so hard to be The Hunger Games.”
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That isn’t fair, however, as the first Uglies book was published in 2005, three years before the first Hunger Games novel.
One fan acknowledges that by posting: “I’ve already seen some talk about ‘it’s a Divergent rip-off’ – ‘Hunger Games rip-off.’ I don’t wanna hear it – from ANY of you. So everybody BEHAVE YOURSELVES.
Perfection is an illusion. UGLIES, based on the best-selling novel, premieres September 13.Starring Joey King, Chase Stokes, Brianne Tju, Keith Powers, and Laverne Cox. pic.twitter.com/4VOh18lW6p
— Netflix (@netflix) August 8, 2024
While another writes: “Back when everyone was going crazy over The Hunger Games, I was trying to tell everyone that Uglies was a much better (and much more possible) dystopian future young adult series.”
While maybe the funniest comparison is to Charlie Brooker’s own dystopian sci-fi series, via this tweet: “So the Uglies is just #BlackMirror for the TikTok kids?!”
Uglies is now streaming on Netflix. For more futuristic films, check out our list of the best sci-fi movies of all time. Alternatively head here for more new movies streaming this month.