A young singer on the brink of stardom is determined to hold on to her identity amid her rising fame and the oppressive household of her religious parents.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Beauty holds an approval rating of 22% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 5.10/10.[4]
Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter commended Dosunmu's direction for delivering "beautiful, indulgent vignettes" that are "aesthetically pleasing and immersive" in its vibes but was critical of the broadly straightforward story and its characters being "vague sketches" with "predictable and perfunctory" conversations, concluding: "As it stands, Beauty feels too distant, treating its mercurial protagonist just as her mother feared — like a fantasy."[2] Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times was critical of Waithe's interpretation of Whitney Houston's story being composed of "mid-20th century progressive theater" archetypes, saying "this semi-true story is ultimately too sketchy to have anything effective to say about Houston, mainstream success or being in the closet."[5] Kristen Lopez of IndieWire gave the film an overall D+ grade, writing: "Beauty could have something interesting to say about the cultural and aesthetic straitjacket Black female artists endured in the 1970s and 1980s, and whether that's changed (or not) even today. But Dosunmu's airless directing and Waithe's thin script only amount to loud allegory that never goes anywhere and drowns out any compelling ideas that might be worth singing."[6]
.jpg)
