The Beauty is an American science fiction body horror television series created by Ryan Murphy and Matthew Hodgson. It is based on the comic book The Beauty, written by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, and stars Evan Peters, Anthony Ramos, Jeremy Pope, Rebecca Hall, and Ashton Kutcher. The series premiered on FX and Hulu on January 21, 2026. In July 2026, it was reported that the entire cast had been released so the actors can pursue other projects, leaving the future of the series unclear.
Contents
Premise
FBI agents Cooper Madsen and Jordan Bennett investigate a series of unexplained deaths among international supermodels. Their inquiry leads to the discovery of a sexually transmitted virus called "The Beauty," which grants physical attractiveness but carries fatal consequences. As they trace its origins, the agents uncover a connection to a powerful and secretive tech figure known as "The Corporation," who seeks to protect the drug and its global expansion. Pursued by a hired operative known as "The Assassin," the agents continue their investigation across multiple international cities amid the growing outbreak.
Cast and characters
Main
Evan Peters as Cooper Madsen, a former Navy SEAL and FBI agent investigating deaths linked to "the Beauty"
Hudson Barry as Cooper after the transformation
Anthony Ramos as Antonio / the Assassin, an enforcer working for "the Corporation" who took the drug soon after it was invented. He is 65 years old in a 30-something year old's body.
Teddy Cañez as the Assassin before the transformation
Jeremy Pope as Jeremy, an outsider drawn into the chaos surrounding the epidemic
Jaquel Spivey as Jeremy before the transformation
Rebecca Hall as Jordan Bennett, an FBI agent and Cooper's partner
Jessica Alexander as Jordan after the transformation
Ashton Kutcher as Byron Forst / the Corporation, a tech billionaire tied to the "Beauty" drug who took it three years ago to keep himself from aging
Vincent D'Onofrio as Byron before the transformation
Recurring
Isabella Rossellini as Franny Forst, Byron's estranged wife
Nicola Peltz Beckham as Franny after the transformation
John Carroll Lynch as FBI Supervisor Meyer Williams
Patrick Luwis as Meyer after the transformation
Rob Yang as Dr. Ray Lee, a scientist and the original developer of the "Beauty" drug who now works for Byron
Ari Graynor as Dr. Diana Sterling, a roboticist and the creator of the "Deacons"
Guest
Bella Hadid as Ruby Rossdale, a supermodel who combusted from the "Beauty"'s side effects after rampaging in Paris
Jon Jon Briones as Dr. Dilegre, a plastic surgeon who works at ANUU
Céline Menville as Vincent Seraphine
Chanel Stewart as Claire, a mysterious woman who infected Jeremy
Joey Pollari as Mike McGuinn, a scientist and Ray's colleague
Eddie Kaye Thomas as Mike before the transformation
Ben Platt as Manny, a Condé Nast employee who is infected by Harper after her combustion
Isaac Powell as Manny after the transformation
Meghan Trainor as Brittany, a Condé Nast employee
Amelia Gray Hamlin as Harper Rose, an assistant editor for Vogue who infected numerous Condé Nast employees during her combustion
Gus Halper as Ashley Sanders, a Condé Nast employee and survivor of Harper's rampage
T. Ryder Smith as Dr. Terry
Peter Gallagher as Axel Zufo, a fossil fuels billionaire
Billy Eichner as Waylen Lemming, a crypto billionaire
David Pittu as Ronan Wylde, a banking billionaire
Julie Halston as Kitty Munson, a multinational retail billionaire
Production
Development
On September 30, 2024, FX gave the project an 11-episode series order. The series is based on The Beauty, a creator-owned comic book written by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley and published by Image Comics. The original comic follows two detectives investigating a sexually transmitted disease that makes those infected physically beautiful but ultimately proves fatal due to side effects.
Mac Quayle, a frequent collaborator with Murphy, composed the score for the series.
Casting
Upon the series order announcement, Peters, Ramos, Pope, and Ashton Kutcher were cast in starring roles. Rebecca Hall was cast as part of the main cast by the time the series had begun production. In February 2025, it was reported that Isabella Rossellini had joined the cast in a recurring role.
In July 2026, it was reported that the entire cast had been released so the actors can pursue other projects.
Filming
Filming began on December 2, 2024, in New York City. The production filmed in Pearl River, New York, in late January 2025.
Themes
Murphy has described The Beauty as a commentary on "Ozempic culture" and the broader social fixation on rapid, drug-assisted physical transformation. In promotional interviews, Murphy framed the story around the question of how much people would be willing to sacrifice in pursuit of beauty, positioning the series as an extension of themes explored in his earlier work Nip/Tuck while emphasizing its science fiction and body-horror elements.
Release
The trailer for The Beauty was released on January 5, 2026. Within seven days, it amassed nearly 190 million views across social media platforms, making it FX's most-viewed trailer to date. The Beauty premiered on January 21, on FX, Hulu, and Hulu on Disney+, with the first three episodes released immediately and the remaining episodes released weekly in the United States. Internationally, the series was made available to stream on Disney+.
Critical reception
The Beauty received a mixed critical response. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 72% based on 64 reviews. On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100 based on 31 critics, which the site categorizes as "generally favorable reviews."
Although aggregator scores were moderately positive, a significant number of individual critics were considerably harsher. Several reviewers drew unfavorable comparisons to Coralie Fargeat's 2024 film The Substance, which had explored similar themes of body horror and beauty culture the prior year. Writing for IndieWire, Ben Travers described the series as a "misshapen mess" and a "feeble spin" on The Substance. The review on RogerEbert.com argued the series had "so much style and very little substance" and did not go sufficiently deep into its central ideas. Tech Advisor similarly described the series as "messy and pretentious" and "not entertaining enough for a decent guilty pleasure." Writing for Bloody Disgusting, Daniel Kurland called it a "botched, ugly embarrassment," acknowledging the show's practical effects as "genuinely remarkable" but arguing that its satire grows "increasingly repetitive and meandering" and that its final act "transforms it into an almost completely different series."
Among the negative reviews indexed by Metacritic, Status criticized the series for what it described as Murphy's "distasteful infatuation" with mixing nudity and violence, while Slant Magazine characterized its characters as "cliché-ridden blank slates.
Ratings
On FX, The Beauty premiered on January 21, 2026, drawing a total audience (P2+) of 512,400 viewers with a 0.16 rating, including 294,600 household viewers (0.23 rating). Subsequent episodes drew 297,900 viewers (0.09) on January 28, 183,000 (0.06) on February 4, and 206,000 (0.06) on February 11, followed by 266,000 viewers (0.08) on February 18 and 251,000 viewers (0.08) on February 25. The episode broadcast on March 4 drew 170,000 viewers (0.05), including 40,800 viewers aged 18–49 (0.03 rating), 37,700 viewers aged 25–54 (0.03 rating), and 166,500 household viewers (0.13 rating). Across this period, total viewership (P2+) ranged from 170,000 to 512,400 viewers, while ratings among adults aged 18–49 varied between 0.03 and 0.07. On streaming, The Beauty ranked No. 1 on Hulu's "Top 15 Today" list—a daily ranking of the platform's most-watched titles—on January 23, 2026, and remained on the chart through March 6.
Impact
Following the release of The Beauty, renewed interest emerged in the original comic, The Beauty #1, published by Image Comics. The issue appeared on Key Collector Comics' "Trending 20" list and was featured by the YouTube channel ComicTom101 in its "Hot 10" rankings over multiple consecutive weeks. Secondary market activity increased, with raw copies reportedly selling for as much as $64 on eBay, while higher-grade and later printings recorded correspondingly higher prices. During the week of the series' premiere, The Beauty #1 placed No. 7 among trending comics in the United States and was reported to have reached a sale price of $199 for a CGC 9.8 copy, with a near-mint fair market value of $53 for raw copies.