Film

Beautiful Creatures

Name: Beautiful Creatures
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Romance
Released: 2013
Cast: Alden Ehrenreich, Alice Englert, Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum

Other titles called Beautiful Creatures: the 2000 film.

Fantasy

A moody Southern Gothic romance where a mysterious girl's supernatural coming-of-age threatens to derail her connection with an ordinary boy. Lush and atmospheric, heavy on mood and longing, light on actual plot momentum. For fans of paranormal YA who want their magic served with magnolia blossoms and existential dread rather than action.

TMDb rating

3.1

If you liked this

The Twilight Saga: New Moon2009

Same doomed-love-across-impossible-divide energy, same brooding hero watching from the shadows, same sense that destiny is a thing you can argue with but probably shouldn't.

But The pacing is glacial and the protagonist spends much of it moping rather than doing. If you need plot momentum, this will feel like watching paint dry.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones2013

Urban paranormal world-building with similar teen romance stakes and the same 'secret magical lineage' machinery. More action-oriented, but keeps that atmospheric supernatural dread intact.

But The adaptation is clunky and the dialogue can feel strained. The mythology gets confusing fast if you're not already invested in the source material.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones poster

Crimson Peak2015

Guillermo del Toro's love letter to Gothic romance: haunted mansion, forbidden love, family curse, supernatural mystery. Same DNA, far more sumptuous and sinister in execution.

But It's a proper gothic thriller, not a teen romance. The tone is darker and more unsettling than Beautiful Creatures aims for.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Beautiful Creatures

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Practical Magic1998

Both centre on a supernatural condition that transforms what a character wants from their romantic future. Both ask: can you choose love if your nature won't let you?

A witch family curse that threatens love across generations: same supernatural-doom-as-romance-plot but executed with style, humour and genuine emotional weight. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman anchor it with real charisma.

But It's genuinely funny and occasionally flippant about darkness. If you want gothic seriousness throughout, this tone-shifts in ways that might feel incongruous.

The 5th Wave2016

Post-apocalyptic YA that uses paranormal stakes to complicate a teen romance. Similar 'trust no one, not even love' tension and a protagonist caught between worlds.

But The action sequences feel obligatory and the plot twists land awkwardly. It's trying to do too much at once.

Vampire Academy2014

A paranormal academy where the rules of magic and romance collide. Lighter in tone than Beautiful Creatures, but shares the world-building and the sense that destiny is messy.

But The tonal whiplash between comedy and drama is jarring. Some of the humour undercuts the supernatural stakes you're supposed to care about.

The Covenant2006

Paranormal powers tied to bloodlines and destinies, a small town where magic lurks beneath ordinary surfaces, romance tangled up with supernatural stakes. Same gothic Americana mood.

But It's a horror-thriller that takes itself very seriously. The tone is much harder-edged and less romantic than Beautiful Creatures.

The Secret of Kells2009

Both are stories about adolescent liminal space—the moment before you become someone else. Both use supernatural elements as a mirror for growing up and loss of innocence.

A young person on the cusp of transformation discovers a magical world they didn't know existed, drawn toward something dangerous and beautiful. Animated Irish folklore with the same lush visual atmosphere as Beautiful Creatures' Southern Gothic, but entirely different medium and register.

But It's a family animation, not a teen romance. The narrative is dreamlike and abstracted rather than plot-driven. Some may find it slow or too precious.

Let the Right One In2008

Both hinge on a teen drawn toward someone fundamentally other, bound by a supernatural condition that makes 'normal relationship' impossible. Both ask whether real connection can exist across that gulf.

A lonely boy and a mysterious girl form a bond that's romantic but forbidden, weird but genuine. Paranormal premise with real emotional depth and none of the teenage melodrama. Swedish original is austere and haunting.

But It's a vampire film with real violence and genuine darkness. Beautiful Creatures is melodrama; this is tragedy. Very bleak, very adult.