Beautiful Beings

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1:54

Beautiful Beings

2023

2h 3m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

82%

Tomatometer

22 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Addi, a boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, decides to adopt a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders. Left to their own devices, the boys explore aggression and violence but also learn about loyalty and love. As the group's behavior escalates towards life-threatening situations, Addi begins to experience a series of dreamlike visions. Can his newfound intuition guide him and his friends back to a safer path, or will they dive irrevocably into further violence?

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

01/19/2023

The pacing is sometimes shaggy, and the boys’ motivations are occasionally mysterious, but Guðmundsson’s young actors are magnetic in a physical, haunted way...

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Marya E. Gates

RogerEbert.com

01/13/2023

2/4

For much of the film, Guðmundsson draws on the long tradition of angry young man films, without adding much by way of originality or insight that hasn’t already been said.

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Manohla Dargis

New York Times

01/12/2023

It’s a sad, familiar story of boys being socially constructed, hyper-masculinized, aggressively nasty little jerks, one largely distinguished by the palpable tenderness that the writer-director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson brings to its telling.

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Tina Kakadelis

Beyond the Cinerama Dome

07/24/2023

Despite its anger, Beautiful Beings remains deeply hopeful. The kids aren’t alright, but they were never given the space to be alright.

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Soham Gadre

Film Inquiry

05/06/2023

While Beautiful Beings is well-intentioned and certainly emotionally resonant in parts, it stops short of having a lasting emotional effect. Its central characters are difficult but not complex.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

05/01/2023

Beautiful Beings’ disparate parts shouldn’t work together. But its whole is ultimately more than their sum, resulting in something that’s moving in a hard-won way, rather than just a gimmicky take on familiar abusive horror stories.

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Jim P

05/28/2024

Fabulous. Great acting and a well-made movie about today’s teenage troubles.

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Jackie H

02/19/2024

Heartbreaking but beautiful film. The actors were amazing. Captures the reality of many kids growing up in poverty.. The friendships were so powerful. Although the kids could be ruthless at times, they seemed to still follow a moral compass. Sticking up for those that had been abused and the weak. I really enjoyed it, brought me to tears. This movie has tons of trigger warnings so just be aware. I thought it was captivating though! 10 out of 10.

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Krissy L

04/30/2023

Real storyline about growing up as teens, peer pressure and not living the perfect fairytale life and how they find their way. Very moving. Beautiful cinematagraphy.

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razvan p

@n1mr0d 04/05/2023

incomplete humans trying to become whole

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Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson

Director

Birgir Dagur Bjarkason

Addi

Áskell Einar Pálmason

Balli

Viktor Benóný Benediktsson

Konni

Snorri Rafn Frímannsson

Siggi

Anita Briem

Guðrún

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Beautiful Beings: Trailer 1

1:54

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Synopsis

Addi, a boy raised by a clairvoyant mother, decides to adopt a bullied misfit into his gang of outsiders. Left to their own devices, the boys explore aggression and violence but also learn about loyalty and love. As the group's behavior escalates towards life-threatening situations, Addi begins to experience a series of dreamlike visions. Can his newfound intuition guide him and his friends back to a safer path, or will they dive irrevocably into further violence?

Director: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Producer: Anton Máni Svansson
Screenwriter: Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson
Distributor: Altered Innocence
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Icelandic
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 13, 2023, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 25, 2023
Runtime: 2h 3m