Uglies Movie Ending Explained: Is Peris Dead? What Happened to Her?
Uglies Movie Ending Explained: A new dystopian film Uglies has arrived on Netflix ready to capture the attention of the public, it is inspired by a series of science fiction books by Scott Westerfeld and tells the story of a futuristic world where cosmetics surgery is imposed as soon as you turn sixteen to make everyone beautiful, perfect and eliminate every form of diversity and therefore inequality. But how does this intriguing story end? What happens in the finale of Uglies? Let’s find out together but, in the meantime, a little recap on the plot of the film.
It is an American action and science fiction film directed by McG and written by Jacob Forman, Vanessa Taylor, and Whit Anderson. The protagonist role is played by actress Joey King, who was also in the cast of A Family Affair with Nicole Kidman. This time she plays Tally, the 15-year-old who is waiting to undergo cosmetic surgery, which she believes will make her perfect. Something, however, goes wrong and she finds herself faced with an unexpected truth. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Scott Westerfeld. But let’s see together what happens in the finale and if there will be a sequel.
Uglies Movie: The Story Plot
The film begins by telling the story of a world civilization that collapsed due to fossil fuels before scientists invented a new renewable energy from white flowers. However, the remaining humans still have problems with differences in appearance, which leads to class division as another problem. The parents therefore think of making everyone equal by transforming everyone at the age of 16 into beautiful people to eliminate that difference. This becomes the life goal of everyone in this world. However, there are still rumors that there are communities that differ in appearance and give freedom to everyone’s thoughts. Uglies is a film that addresses the issue of the standardization of beauty in contemporary times and does so by speaking to the very young, the first victims of a world where even the slightest physical imperfection can be experienced as the greatest psychological drama.
The story told by the film is that of Tally, a teenager who can’t wait to become as beautiful as the girls older than her. She has already chosen the shape of the face she wants, the color of her eyes, the color of her hair, and the body she wants to assume after the operation. But when she sees the side effects of the operation on her best friend, Tally will begin to understand that something, in this government system based on perfection, doesn’t work and she will understand that the values of life must be sought elsewhere. Although it is a dystopian story of a teen nature and, therefore, simple and intended for a very young audience, Uglies is a film that would be good for all those people who struggle to accept themselves, who feel ugly, different, and therefore inferior to those who flaunt beauty on social media, on TV or in the street. Uglies is a film that all insecure people, slaves to social media, always ready to point the finger at their imperfections should watch if only to remember that it is precisely what we consider a defect that makes us unique, special, different, and therefore memorable.
Uglies Movie Ending Explained: Is Peris Dead? What Happened to Her?
In the finale of Uglies, we see Tally side with the rebel group that David, the boy she has fallen in love with, is part of. The girl will destroy the necklace with the tracker that the evil doctor Cable had given her, but she doesn’t know that by doing so she will communicate the exact position of her, David, and all those of the “Smoke” group. So the enemies arrive immediately, and among the soldiers, there is also Tally’s former best friend, now deprived of consciousness, who kills David’s father and captures everyone to have them operated on and become perfect.
Shay, Tally’s friend who never wanted to undergo the operation is forced to do it and, in the end, becomes the beautiful and perfect version of herself declaring that she never wants to go back. David’s mother, however, helped by Tally and her son to escape, manages to find the last useful ingredient to build the antidote for the surgical operations but Shay is not willing to take it, and testing a medicine on a non-consenting person is not what she wants to do. So Tally sacrifices herself to do the operation herself and then tests the antidote on herself becoming a guinea pig for this healing experiment. What we see at the end of the film, however, is the new version of Tally, perfect and with the golden eyes she had always dreamed of. Now, however, Tally is happy, she likes herself, she is perfect, will she ever want to go back after having tried perfection? Towards the end of Uglies, Dr. Cable uses the pendant to find Tally. Soon after, she and David set off to free their friends, but arrive too late.
By now, Shay has been transformed into a Pretty. David and Tally manage to free some Smokies, however. David’s mother, Maddy, finds the cure to restore Shay’s mind to the way it was before. However, Maddy refuses to perform it and refuses to test the untested drug on an unwilling person. Tally then volunteers to become a Pretty, surprising Dr. Cable. In the last scene of the movie on Netflix, you can see Tally in her new and wonderful apartment in New Pretty Town. The protagonist admits that she is doing very well. But here’s what the ending shows Tally’s hand, which still has the scar that she dedicated to her friend Peris. Peris lost her scar when she became Peris, even though she promised she would keep it forever. This led Tally to understand that after surgery, a person’s mind also changes. The fact that Tally still has the scar suggests that, even though she has become Pretty, she has not lost her mind. Meanwhile, in the Uglies finale, David intends to reach Tally in New Pretty Town to bring her back to the Smokies and give her the cure. The scar is a signal for him.
Is Peris Dead? What Happened to Her?
What happened to Peris in Uglies? Taking a step back, Tally refuses to help Dr. Cable bring Shay back. Therefore, the doctor thinks that to convince the protagonist to betray Shay she must use Peris, her friend. Talking to Tally, Peris seems to go a bit out of the Pretty world, and this is what happens to some new Pretties. For this reason, Dr. Cable decides to perform another surgery on her, transforming her into a superhuman soldier, called Special. This operation allows you to transform a passive and happy person into a more aggressive individual. Peris has thus become a Special, which is not the case in Westefeld’s book, on which the plot is based. The girl eventually fights David. The fight ends with Peris falling off the dam. Specials are made to be nearly indestructible and heal very quickly. Therefore, Peris could still be alive.
Will Uglies 2 Happen? What Could Happen in the Sequel?
There is no official news yet about the sequel to Uglies on Netflix. In the meantime, the ending leaves us hoping for a continuation. Viewers who already love this story would like to find out if Tally will get the cure and start a revolution. By showing her as Pretty, but with a scar, the film leaves us thinking that this will happen. After all, Uglies is part of a trilogy of books and is followed by the two novels Pretties and Specials. In addition, Scott Westerfeld has published a fourth book in the saga and a series of spin-offs of four books, entitled Imposters, Shatter City, Mirror’s Edge, and Youngbloods. So, the material is there.
Is There a Post-Surgery Cure?
The second half of the film focuses on the journey of Tally and David, a member of Smoke, to free the inhabitants of the community who have been captured by the authorities after Dr. Cable uses Tally’s tracking device to locate them. However, when Tally and David arrive in town, they discover that many have already been transformed into Pretties, including Shay. This is where one of the central themes of Uglies comes into play: the operation does not just change people’s physical appearance, but also alters their minds, making them passive and docile. The climax of the film is Tally’s choice to volunteer herself to become Pretty. After seeing the devastating effect, the surgery has on Shay and the others, and after discovering that Maddy, David’s mother, has developed a cure for the brain damage that the cosmetic surgery causes, Tally decides to sacrifice herself to test the cure. This step marks a pivotal moment in the story: Tally is willing to temporarily lose her identity in order to discover if there is a way to save Shay and the others from being Pretties.
Tally’s Transformation?
The final scene of the movie shows Tally in her new apartment in New Pretty Town, seemingly satisfied with her new appearance and life as a Pretty. Her physical transformation is impressive: she has long, silky hair, a perfectly symmetrical face, and glowing skin. Tally seems to enjoy her new condition, so much so that she tells the interface in her room that she feels “wonderful”. However, the most notable detail of this scene is the scar on her hand, a mark she had created together with Peris before he became Pretty. This scar has not been removed, unlike Peris’s, which she had eliminated after the operation. This visual detail is crucial to understanding the true meaning of the ending.
The scar represents Tally’s last link to her old self, proof that despite her physical transformation, she has not completely lost her identity. It is also a sign to David that Tally is still herself, ready to receive the cure that could restore her full consciousness. The scar then becomes the symbol of Tally’s resistance against the mind control imposed by the system, a resistance that has not completely broken. The film thus ends on an ambiguous note: on the one hand, Tally seems to have adapted to her new life, on the other, the presence of the scar suggests that she has not been entirely conditioned by the regime. This leaves open the way for a potential sequel, which could explore the consequences of Tally’s decision and her role in the rebellion against the system.
What Happened to Peris?
The fate of Peris, Tally’s best friend, is another key element in the finale. After being transformed into a Pretty, Peris was one of the first to show signs of resistance to the mental conditioning, when he spoke to Tally. Dr. Cable, noticing this resistance, had him undergo another operation that transformed him into a Special, a superhuman soldier trained to fight rebels like David. Although the concept of the Special is not explored in depth in the film, this transformation presents another challenge for Tally, who must now face her childhood friend as an enemy. The final fight between Peris and David marks a dramatic moment in the film, culminating in Peris falling off a dam. Although it seems unlikely that he survived, the superhuman nature of the peculiar leaves open the possibility that he could return in a possible sequel, ready to fight again.
The ending of Uglies therefore offers food for thought: Tally’s scar, her willingness to sacrifice herself to test the cure, and her resistance against mental conditioning are all elements that suggest a future in which the protagonist could lead a revolution. Furthermore, Scott Westerfeld’s trilogy, of which Uglies is only the first chapter, offers ample material for further development. With the sequel Pretties and the threequel Specials, there are many possibilities to expand Tally’s dystopian universe on screen.
