Beauty and the Beast (2017) - Movie Content Review

Beauty and the Beast (2017) is a real person adaptation of the original animated Disney movie.  An enchantress turns a sour prince into a Beast, and his staff into talking furniture.  The only way to break the curse is for someone to fall in love with the Beast; so when Belle ends up his prisoner, his staff decide to play matchmaker.  Meanwhile the time to reverse the curse is running out and the townspeople want to kill the Beast.

This page contains affiliate links that earn me a small commission.  They don't cost you anything.  Their presence/absence doesn't effect the quality of this Content Review.  Please see the Disclosures Page to learn more.

Message

Beauty and the Beast’s message is simply “don’t judge a book by its cover”.  The message extends far beyond just the Beast and his magically transformed staff, as several other characters are revealed to be different than people’s perceptions of them.

Content 

Language

There are no swear words used in this movie.

Fears

The Beast can be pretty scary, especially in the beginning of the movie where he is ill-tempered.  Even after he starts to have a change of heart, he still looks a bit scary.  There’s a few scary scenes with wolves too.

There are a few scenes where it’s very dark and something scary with the wolves or the Beast is happening.

A major portion of the movie occurs while Belle is the Beast’s prisoner.  Belle and her father both end up taken prisoner on several occasions.  One character is left bound in the woods with the hopes that wolves eat him.

There’s a brief scene with a doctor wearing one of those doctor’s plague masks (it reminds me of a toucan) that some kids may find scary.

There are no storms, fires, or clowns in this movie.

Family & Relationships

During flashbacks, both Belle and the Beast’s mothers are shown sick on their deathbeds.  Belle missing her mother is talked about on several occasions.

Gaston aggressively pursues marrying Belle, despite her and her father’s disapproval.  The candelabra is very affectionate toward his duster girlfriend in a stereotypically French feeling way.  There’s some kissing at the end of the movie.

Gaston’s best friend, Lefou, caves to Gaston’s peer pressure and does bad acts on several occasions.

There’s no Divorce, Sexual Content, Sneaking Out, Running Away, or Bullying. 

Other Content

The magic in the movie is administered by one character, who is referred to as a beautiful enchantress.  She is the one who converts the Beast and his staff.  An enchanted rose is used as a timer to signify how much time they have remaining to break the spell, which is talked about on several occasions.  Every time a rose petal falls, the castle crumbles and the staff show more signs of permanently becoming furniture. 

The Beast’s castle is broken into by a murderous mob of townspeople.

There’s some silly cartoon style fighting between the staff and the townspeople.  The Beast is shot several times, dies, and Belle cries over his dead body.  One character falls from a great height and it’s implied he dies.

Three swordsmen get dressed up like a woman by the Beast’s magical wardrobe during the fighting.  Two run away in terror, but the third has a huge smile and walks away in enjoyment while the wardrobe tells him to go and be free.  It’s very obvious the man likes it, and it’s a very memorable scene.  At the end of the movie the same swordsman and Lefou are dancing with women when the swordsman trades partners to dance with Lefou.  The scene is brief, but quite noticeable, and both characters enjoy it.  After viewing that scene, I realized that Lefou wasn’t just portrayed as a kiss-up character who agrees with everything Gaston says, but rather the character was also written to be subtly gay.  A child may not draw the same conclusion about Lefou because it is subtle until the very end, but they’re definitely going to notice and remember the swordsman and those two scenes.  Be prepared for your children to have questions or comments.

There is no time travel, politics, evolution, or religion. 

Conclusion

This is a well-made adaptation of the animated original Beauty and the Beast that also includes a lot of singing seamlessly woven into the story.  But even if your family loves the songs, several very scary scenes will bother some children, and the unnecessary homosexuality is going to turn away a lot of parents.