“Beautiful Creatures” is sort of a romantic comedy/drama about a girl named Lena who is a witch – or as they say in the film a “Caster”, and her boyfriend Ethan who is mortal. As they become closer, she finds out that she must face a family curse going back hundreds of years to the Civil war era. While there are many funny moments intermixed with the drama, there is also a great deal of witchcraft including spells and incantations. The premise is that there are good “casters” and evil “casters” and when a girl turns 16 she is chosen by the Moon to be one or the other, but she does not have the power to choose on her own.
I must admit that the classic good vs. evil story is told very well and there are some positive messages in the film. But, the theology or demonology is a little murky and not well defined leaving a few holes in the story. In addition, the language is slightly more that we can approve for a family film so we are unable to award our Dove Seal to this romantic tale.