While The Beauty might not have a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, the horror satire did manage to turn around a worrying trend for its creator, super-producer Ryan Murphy. FX’s The Beauty focuses its story on the eponymous sexually transmitted treatment, which makes victims physically beautiful but causes terrifying, homicidal side effects, and the agents trying to stop it.
Anarchic, absurd, and surprisingly smart, The Beauty’s starry cast of characters includes Ashton Kutcher, Isabella Rossellini, Rebecca Hall, Anthony Ramos, Evan Peters, Ari Graynor, and Bella Hadid. The show is based on a 2016 comic book of the same name by Jeremy Haun and Jason A Hurley, but none of these are the names most closely associated with the show.
The FX series is a Ryan Murphy production, meaning that everything from The Beauty’s controversial similarities to The Substance to the show’s garish viral marketing campaign should not come as a surprise. Murphy is infamous for his “All publicity is good publicity” approach to TV production, and this appears to have paid off handsomely in the case of this series.
The Beauty Earned Ryan Murphy’s Best Rotten Tomatoes Rating Since 2024
Not only did The Beauty become Hulu’s most-watched show on the weekend of its release, dethroning Percy Jackson and the Olympians in the process, but the series also managed the considerable task of impressing critics. The Beauty boasts Murphy’s best critical rating since 2024 on Rotten Tomatoes, earning a stellar 74%,
This was only just about beaten by 2024’s Grotesquerie, which earned 75% from critics for its grisly, twisty story of a religious serial killer and the troubled detective pursuing them. Like The Beauty, Grotesquerie blended horror elements with a police procedural format, although the earlier show featured less broad humor than this comic adaptation.
While earning Murphy’s best critical rating since 2024 may not sound all that impressive, it is important to note just how many shows Murphy has worked on in that time. In 2025 alone, Murphy was created as the creator of 9-1-1: Nashville, Doctor Odyssey, and Monster: The Ed Gein Story, and as the Executive Producer of Mid-Century Modern and All’s Fair.
To be fair to the busy producer, Mid-Century Modern did earn a staggering 88% rating from critics, beating both Grotesquerie and The Beauty. However, Murphy was only an Executive Producer on the acclaimed sitcom, not its creator. Furthermore, his other Executive Producer credit in 2025, the legal drama All’s Fair, more than made up for Mid-Century Modern’s success.
The Beauty’s Critical Success Highlights A Surprising Ryan Murphy Career Trend
Debuting to a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 0%, the Kim Kardashian vehicle All’s Fair was listed as one of the worst shows of all time upon release. Although the show has since scraped its way up to a meager 6% rating, it remains by far Murphy’s worst-received project throughout his prolific, multi-decade career.
|
Ryan Murphy Series (2025-6) |
Release Date |
RT Score (Critics) |
RT Score (Audience) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Beauty |
January 21, 2026 |
74% |
72% |
|
All’s Fair |
November 4, 2025 |
6% |
65% |
|
Monster: The Ed Gein Story |
October 5, 2025 |
41% |
63% |
|
Doctor Odyssey |
September 26, 2024 |
63% |
48% |
|
Grotesquerie |
September 25, 2024 |
75% |
53% |
Within this context, The Beauty’s solid performance is a major redemption arc for Murphy, as well as an illustration of a surprising career trend. Looking at the data, it becomes clear that Murphy’s reliable genre as a creator when it comes to critical reaction is horror shows. Between them, American Horror Story, Scream Queens, The Beauty, and Grotesquerie boast his best scores.
If viewers consider Monster: The Ed Gein Story and its franchise predecessors to be true crime dramas and not horrors, which the Netflix shows ostensibly are, then a clear pattern emerges. The Beauty earned 74%, Grotesquerie earned 75%, American Horror Stories earned 66%, Scream Queens 77%, and American Horror Story 77%.
In stark contrast, All’s Fair earned 6%, Monster: The Ed Gein Story earned 41%, Doctor Odyssey earned 63%, the true crime drama The Watcher earned 54%, 2020’s Hollywood earned 58%, and 2019’s satirical drama The Politician earned a mere 51%. If Murphy has a reliable genre, it is horror, as the comparative success of The Beauty proves.
ScreenRant’s review of the series reaffirmed this, highlighting its humor and unpredictability. Per critic Ben Gibbons: “The story is provocative and innovative, and the performances throughout are worthy of recognition and celebration. Yes, it can feel like a parody, and there is over-the-top humor at points, but the final result is genuinely brilliant.”
The Beauty’s Critical Acclaim Makes Up For Murphy’s Abysmal 2025
From the moment The Beauty’s premise was announced and viewers immediately spotted its similarities to The Substance, it was clear the series would be controversial. What comes as something of a surprise is the fact that the show is also good, a fun, campy, and gruesome slice of satirical body horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Not only does The Beauty make the most of a stacked cast in its first three episodes, but the show also features a few genuinely surprising twists that ensure it feels like more than merely a globe-hopping rehash of The Substance. As such, the series redeems Murphy’s risible 2025, making up for the twin failures of All’s Fair and Monster: The Ed Gein Story.
While Monster: The Ed Gein Story’s terrible revision of history was arguably more disrespectful than anything featured in All’s Fair, both shows were profound failures in concept and execution. In contrast, The Beauty proves Murphy has retained his wit and unique style, and can still impress with the right material.