Ashton Kutcher playing a baddie, Bella Hadid killing people on the streets of Italy and the phrase: “It’s an STD you’re actually gonna want.”
Is it a meme? I mean, it probably will be – but it’s all to do with FX’s newest show, The Beauty.
This new Ryan Murphy series casts Kutcher as the creepy CEO of a company dedicated to making you hot (his words) with just one ‘shot’ of secret serum. Naturally, there’s a catch – soon enough, these newly-hot drug takers seem to be subject to violent fits of rage.
All the while, a pair of FBI agents are trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on. It has all the makings of an instant camp classic… or an absolute hot mess. Here’s what we know so far.
It has a stacked cast
It’s basically a who’s who of top Hollywood actors. Ashton Kutcher plays the as-yet unnamed creepy tech billionaire called The Corporation, who says things like, “I’m the world’s greatest goddamn advertisement for the hottest new super drug that makes you effortlessly beautiful,” while relaxing on a yacht in what looks like the Mediterranean.
He’s the one who has invented The Beauty: the one-shot serum that promises to turn you from “aesthetically disadvantaged” to mega-hot.
The FBI agents on his tail are Cooper Madsen (Evan Peters) and Jordan Bennett (Rebecca Hall), but they have their hands full: the drug is spreading internationally and causing chaos.
As they head to Paris to investigate, they come up against Anthony Ramos, who plays an eyepatch-wearing assassin hired to kill those being too vocal about the side effects of the drug.
“This is the closest to the fountain of youth anyone is ever going to get, which of course, comes with problems,” he says. Before shooting two people in the head.
The other main character, Jeremy Pope, plays Jeremy, a bystander who gets drawn into the chaos surrounding the drug’s spread.
Apart from that, there’s also a massive list of guest stars, which includes Meghan Trainor, Nicola Peltz Beckham, Peter Gallagher, Bella Hadid (who plays a character called Ruby), Amelia Gray, Lux Pascal (sister of Pedro) and Vincent D’Onofrio.
There is a trailer
.jpeg)
And it looks excellent. The first trailer basically worked as a spoof pitch for The Beauty, pitching us a product optimised to help make you “hot with just one shot”.
In the second, we see Kutcher’s shady Corporation character getting the shot and chilling out with Isabella Rossellini, who apparently hates his guts.
The world apparently goes mad for it (not a surprise, really) and we see one schoolgirl asking her friend if it has side effects. Um, yes it does. The next thing we see is Bella Hadid’s character, drenched in blood and smashing mirrors.
Apparently, the Beauty is mutating “out in the wild,” and soon enough people seem to be whaling on each other, travelling to increasingly exotic locations and doing things like choking out Meghan Trainor in a cafeteria. Why not.
When’s it out?
Good news: though the show is an FX production, it’s coming to the UK and will be streaming on Disney+ from January 22.
