Kernel Rating (out of 5): 
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Length: 124 minutes
Age Appropriate for: 14+. This is a fairly typical supernatural teen romance, so the content is what you would expect: some making out and implied sexual activity (but no actual nudity), some cursing, infrequent teen drinking (which is limited to wine at dinner), and some violence, including teen bullying, memories of the Civil War, and hand-to-hand combat.
‘Twilight’ is over, and a deluge of new supernatural films targeted toward teens are flooding into our theaters. ‘Beautiful Creatures’ is a strong entry into the bunch, with an enjoyable feminist slant and pulpy Gothic South settings that help soothe the film’s overly complicated plot.
By Roxana Hadadi
If you think of ‘Twilight,’ what comes to mind first? The series of books by Stephenie Meyer and films starring now-household-names Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson is defined most clearly, I think, by its single-mindedness, by the implicit suggestion that the best thing a girl can hope for is someone to love her—who cares if he’s undead, as long as he’s handsome and rich. That kind of reductive message carries throughout the franchise, and it was a dangerous assertion for the legion of female fans—one that is enjoyably countered by “Beautiful Creatures.”
