The Beauty has been panned by critics as 'offensive, dumbed down and unhinged' despite an all-star cast - and the STI body horror series is under fire for ripping off award-winning The Substance with 'excessive' sex and violence.

The American science fiction body horror series, created by Ryan Murphy and Matthew Hodgson, landed on American channel FX and streamer Hulu on January 21 2026, followed by Disney+ in the UK a day later.

It follows the story of two FBI agents called Drew Foster and Kara Vaughn who try to get to the bottom of how an STD called The Beauty keeps spreading. 

The synopsis reads: 'The world of high fashion turns dark when international supermodels begin dying in gruesome and mysterious ways.

'FBI Agents “Cooper Madsen” (Evan Peters) and “Jordan Bennett” (Rebecca Hall) are sent to Paris to uncover the truth. 

'As they delve deeper into the case, they uncover a sexually transmitted virus that transforms ordinary people into visions of physical perfection, but with terrifying consequences. 

'Their path leads them directly into the crosshairs of The Corporation (Ashton Kutcher), a shadowy tech billionaire who has secretly engineered a miracle drug dubbed The Beauty, who will do anything to protect his trillion-dollar empire—including unleashing his lethal enforcer, The Assassin (Anthony Ramos). 

'As the epidemic spreads, Jeremy (Jeremy Pope), a desperate outsider, is caught in the chaos, searching for purpose as the agents race across Paris, Venice, Rome, and New York to stop a threat that could alter the future of humanity. 

'The Beauty is a global thriller that asks: what would you sacrifice for perfection?'

The 11-episode series has a very impressive star-studded cast. 

Bella Hadid, Ashton Kutcher, Jeremy Pope, Rebecca Hall, Evan Peters, John Carroll Lynch, Jaquel Spivey, Jessica Alexander, Meghan Trainor, Nicola Peltz Beckham and Julie Halston appear on our screens as part of the programme. 

Critics have already binge-watched the full series, and many have compared it to Coralie Fargeat's The Substance... however, they believe it pales in comparison against the acclaimed 2024 body horror film. 

Metro's Rebecca Cook brutally gave the new show just one star and her headline states: 'Ryan Murphy’s offensive new TV show is nearly unwatchable.'

She writes: 'The show’s similarities to The Substance and Death Becomes Her have already been remarked upon, and Isabella Rosselini’s presence winks to the latter, but The Beauty is based on a 2015 comic book by Jeremy Haun and Jason A Hurle.

'Having seen the trailer and read the list of guest stars – Meghan Trainor! Bella Hadid! Nicola Peltz Beckham! – I expected nonsense. But I was not prepared for the endurance challenge that was soldiering through these 11 episodes.

'With the advent of supernova drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro, plus the ongoing conversation around cosmetic injectables and Kris Jenner’s facelift, this could have been the perfect moment for a show about the ‘one shot that makes you hot’.

'But the result here is shameless claptrap.'

Independent's Patrick Smith writes: 'The show’s genetic make-up is spliced from superior stock. 

'There are traces of The Substance, Coralie Fargeat’s scathing body horror, in the grotesque physical metamorphoses and the commentary on our beauty obsession.

'The contagion element is pure It Follows, the elevated 2014 horror in which intimate contact passes on a deadly curse. Not that The Beauty is a patch on either of them.'

He adds: 'For all its defects, The Beauty does have its moments.

'Unlike many of its characters, it’s comfortable in its skin, less concerned with substance than style, wearing its accessibility and ludicrousness on its sleeve. 

'It’s TV, in other words, designed to be glanced at, but not necessarily watched. Other beauty products are available.' 

Roger Ebert writer Cristina Escobar says: 'Ryan Murphy’s “The Beauty” Gives Excess Sex, Violence, & Half-Baked Ideas.'

She writes: 'Excess—particularly around sex and violence, but also as a sort of narrative device. This aesthetic defines much of Ryan Murphy's work, and his tendency toward maximalism is on full display in his latest series, “The Beauty.”

'Created in partnership with longstanding collaborator Matthew Hodgson, it’s not a show meant to silence his critics. 

'It’s meant to delight Murphy’s fans. Adapting a graphic novel series of the same name, the FX series primarily follows FBI Agent Cooper Madsen, played by frequent Murphy muse Evan Peters.

'He’s investigating a mysterious new infection that transforms people into the best possible byproduct of their DNA—young, beautiful, fit. The only caveat is that they spontaneously combust about 2 years after transformation.'

Irish Independent's Pat Stacey brutally adds: 'Is it as bad as Murphy’s previous atrocity, the disastrous legal drama All’s Fair, which received multiple zero-star ratings from critics and a 6pc Rotten Tomatoes rating, and proved that, as an actor, Kim Kardashian is the timber industry’s loss?

'No, it isn’t quite that bad. But given that All’s Fair set the bar so low, it’s practically six feet underground, this is not saying a whole lot. 

'The Beauty was apparently greenlit two months after the release of Demi Moore’s black comedy horror The Substance. There are similarities; the defining difference, however, is that one is great and the other is muck.' 

However, Financial Times writer Rebecca Nicholson writes: 'While the jokes tend to fall flat, the series is more successful as a gruesome horror. 

'One of Murphy’s earliest hits came in the gory procedures of cosmetic surgery saga Nip/Tuck, and he won more fans for his long-running American Horror Story anthology series, which returns later in the year. 

'This feels like an amalgamation of both, and is bolstered by short, pithy episodes. 

'As is often the case with Murphy’s work, it can feel more like a series of aesthetic choices than a coherent story, but at least with that feels in keeping with the spirit.' 

Radio Times writer Molly Moss positively adds: 'And while the first body horror transformation in the show is pretty wild and disturbing, once you’ve got the gist, it looks like the mutations are going to get quite predictable quite quickly (this is the case in the two episodes of the show that were available to review, anyway).

'Instead the focus is on story momentum and plot, which is certainly intriguing, and looks to be ramping up at the end of episode 2 as Cooper finds The Corporation on his tail.

'The series is also visually stunning – as fans will have come to expect from a Murphy production – and has a great cast. Hall and Peters in particular are terrific as sceptics of their image-obsessed society, while there are also some fun guest appearances from the likes of Bella Hadid.'

Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg writes: 'The series, which definitely does not complete its story in the 11-episode first season, is one of Murphy’s most thought-full (if not thoughtful) shows in years. 

'It’s highly debatable how many of those thoughts are fresh or original or fully examined, but it’s a busy show that will keep many viewers occupied trying to make sense of its breadcrumb trail of familiar ideas and familiar twists and turns.

'My sense is that the trail leads to nothing revelatory, but at least you’re treated to plenty of exploding bodies, piles of steaming flesh and a writhing A-list cast along the way.' 

But Indie Wire's Ben Travers writes: 'Toss in the out-of-body viewing experience, where you’re voluntarily letting attractive celebrities scold you for succumbing to the same inescapable cultural conditions that lead them to keep makeup artists on retainer, and “The Beauty” is a flat-out lousy time, start to finish. Don’t be fooled.' 

However, it is not all negative as The Guardian's Lucy Mangan adds: 'In short, The Beauty is a return to bingeable Murphy goodness (and a harking back, subject-wise, to arguably some of his best work, Nip/Tuck).

'It hovers between a three and four star review for me but I’m rounding up out of sheer relief.'