Beastly.

Beastly!!

Beastly is a fantasy drama directed and written by Daniel Barnz and was released in March 2011. The film stars Alex Pettyfer, who has been in films such as I am Number Four and Magic Mike, who plays the main protagonist Kyle. Vanessa Hudgens also stars along side him and has been in films such as Spring Breakers and is mostly known for her role in the High School Musical films. There are many well known actors within the cast for Beastly and is the main selling point in the film as they have stars such as Neil Patrick Harris, Dakota Johnson and Mary-Kate Olsen. However the film hasn't seen much success in terms of awards and nominations.

The film explores themes of love and beauty as Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) is turned into a 'monster' so that he can find true love. The film goes into depth about how the way someone looks is not the most important thing when it comes to relationships. A scene in which this is shown is when Kyle gets brave enough to talk to Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) but only with a mask over his face. This is significant because it shows how insecure Kyle has become and that without his looks he believes he is not good enough. However, further into the film Kyle decides to show Lindy his true face in which she is not shocked by. This shows it is not just about someones appearance but also their personality. Mise-en-scene along with performance is significant in this film especially when it comes to Kyle's character. Firstly Mise-en-scene is important (specifically props and location). When we are first introduced to Kyle he seems to have everything. He has the looks, the designer clothes and the latest accessories and gadgets. This is important because at the beginning of the film the audience gets the impression that if you have the looks then you are successful. The events that take place at the beginning of the film backs this up as Kyle openly says that attractive people are better off. However, the later performance of Kyle where he is more shy and insecure contradict and contrast with the mise-en-scene. He still has a big house, lots of money and technology but he is no longer happy with his life. The thing that he desperately wants is friendship and a relationship. The mise-en-scene and performance contrasts with each other to show an important message which is that having loads of money and items doesn't make you happy, which is the opposite to what we saw at the beginning of the film.

This film is a modern day 'Beauty and the Beast' as it follows the same story line of a man being turned into a monster because of the way he behaved in the past and he has to find true love in order to make him human again. The film has very strong links with 'Beauty and The Beats' as it is based on the same fairy tale storyline of finding love which is based on more than looks.