Ryan Murphy's 'The Beauty' teaser ups the horror with a bold sci-fi shift
Ryan Murphy doesn’t just dabble in horror; he has dominated the genre. With 'The Beauty', he's now pushing into the body horror territory with a science fiction edge. As one of the most reliable and ever-present producers in the industry, Murphy has consistently ensured that his shows are not only worthy of critical acclaim but also of major viewership. With the teaser release for his new show, everyone is curious to see how his new experiment unfolds.
FX recently released the teaser for their new show, 'The Beauty'. It marks Ryan Murphy's return to the premium television network after the release of 'American Sports Story: Aaron Hernandez' in 2024 as a co-producer alongside Matt Hodgson. The teaser opens with quick shots of cells in the body multiplying, and introduces a drug to be injected that is meant to make "anyone with an old face, drop dead gorgeous".
'The Beauty' teaser introduced an ensemble cast of Ashton Kutcher, Rebecca Hall, and Evan Peters alongside Bella Hadid, Anthony Ramos, Jeremy Pope, and Isabella Rossellini. As per Deadline, noted celebrities like Amelia Gray Hamlin, Ari Graynor, Ben Platt, Billy Eichner, Jaquel Spivey, Jessica Alexander, Jon Jon Briones, John Carroll Lynch, Julie Halston, Lux Pascal, Meghan Trainor, Nicola Peltz Beckham, Peter Gallagher, and Vincent D'Onofrio are also set to guest-star. The teaser leaned into the nostalgic format using heavy narration, once common in the early 2000s era, ending with a catchphrase, "one shot makes you hot."
The plot given in the official synopsis states, "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 series is based on a graphic novel series of the same name created by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley for Image Comics.
In 2024, Murphy spoke about the upcoming show with Entertainment Weekly and claimed, "I've always written about beauty culture in my work from my very first big thing, which was 'Nip/Tuck.' I've also done a lot of body horror in my work, mostly through 'American Horror Story." While many have drawn comparisons to the 2025 Oscar contender 'The Substance', it has set a high bar for 'The Beauty'. It could mark a striking evolution in Murphy's approach to horror storytelling. The show is set to premiere on January 21, 2026, on FX, with the first three episodes airing on that date, followed by weekly releases every Wednesday.
