Beautiful Disaster (2023) - Film Review

Best known for Cruel Intentions and, more recently, directing the second instalment in the After franchise, Robert Kumble dives back into the new adult genre with his adaptation of Beautiful Disaster with Dylan Sprouse and Virginia Gardner as the leads.

For those who haven't read the book or seen this movie, minus Beautiful - Disaster is a perfect title for this movie. Bad-boy Travis (Sprouse) is precisely what college freshman Abby (Gardner) needs and wants to avoid. He spends his nights fighting in underground boxing matches and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. But Abby wants nothing to do with Travis. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance, Travis offers her a simple bet: if he loses his next fight, he must remain sex-free for a month. If he wins, Abby must live in his apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that Abby’s dark past is about to emerge, and he may have finally met his match.

This is an insult to the art of cinema. Roger Kumble tries and fails to capture what made Cruel Intentions such a cult classic. Virginia Gardner and Dylan Sprouse have some of the worst chemistry I’ve seen, but they had very little to work with. The screenplay has been written with as much depth as you’d expect to see in an adolescent author’s fan fiction. Characters hit narrative beats in the most painfully awkward ways. It would be laughable if it weren’t cringe-inducing.

There are glimpses of potential with this story that could’ve made this a somewhat decent film, but the creative team sacrifices character and plot for cheap smut and unoriginal angst.

Not only was this made by the producers of After, but this film also trickled in references to the Anna Todd franchise that went from exasperating to quite sad. From a creative angle, I see why some directors pay tribute to other directors or even incorporate references to their own filmography, but this lacks the creativity or taste that is seen in other films.

Virginia Gardner's Abbey is a walking cliché of every one of the heroines found in these coming-of-age films. Nerdy, intellectual, not like "other" girls. Tropes that are meant to be relatable are the exact opposite in these characters. Abbey actually has an interesting backstory that could have subverted these familiar tropes. However, this is never fully realised in the film. Abbey's history and how she's written/played do not connect. The hustler reinventing herself as the quirky girl to escape her past could have been a great character arc, but the quirky traits made her a flimsy protagonist.

The same can be said for Dylan Sprouse, the comedic undertone made him a bland protagonist and love interest. In comparison, this film dragged itself willingly on the coattails of After; the production team also wanted to break away from familiar tropes. Instead of the brooding bad boy archetype viewers would expect, Travis is written to be more humorous and light-hearted than his book counterpart, but Sprouse was not the right casting choice. He didn't have the stage presence to play a bad boy love interest convincingly, and his comedic performance did not complement his character. He was not suitable for this part.

The more I watched this film, the more I couldn't help comparing this film to other more successful coming-of-age romances. These actors had moments where they could have better chemistry with different characters and a much better script, but this atrocious writing really impacted both leads' performances. This did not work as a comedy and failed as a romance or drama.

If not for the graphic sex scenes or the unnecessary use of swear words, the humour and dialogue would have an adolescent and sometimes juvenile immaturity. Despite these characters being in university - making them aged between their late teens to early twenties - you wouldn't think that based on the writing and characterisation. Although theoretically aimed at an older audience based on the 16+ age rating on Amazon Prime, this film lacked the maturity or depth to market towards their intended demographic. There was no arc, spark or chemistry for the characters to fall in love. Everything was rushed, and aside from sexual attraction, I couldn't see how Abbey or Travis loved each other so quickly.

Without exaggerating, this was one of the worst films I've watched in 2023. I would not recommend this to anyone, even for satire purposes, because there's unfortunately a sequel in the works. The film is just terrible and if you're looking for an opposite attracts romance - go watch Pride and Prejudice (2005), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Dirty Dancing (1987) or a million other movies/shows that have better stories.

My rating for Beautiful Disaster (2023) is ½ of ★.