Ryan Murphy has a new horror TV show coming in 2026 titled The Beauty, and its first trailer highlights how similar it is to a hit horror movie from 2024. There are some exciting horror TV shows coming in 2026, and among them is a new Ryan Murphy show titled The Beauty, based on Jeremy Huan and Jason A. Hurley’s comic book of the same name.
The Beauty reunites Murphy with some of his frequent collaborators, most notably Evan Peters (who is also confirmed to return to American Horror Story season 13), and brings new names into the Murphyverse, such as Isabella Rossellini, Rebecca Hall, and Anthony Ramos.
The Beauty is scheduled for a January 21, 2026, release on FX and FX on Hulu, but its first trailer confirms how similar it is to 2024’s hit body horror movie.
The Beauty’s Trailer Confirms How Similar It Is To The Substance
Created by Ryan Murphy and Matt Hodgson, The Beauty follows the mysterious and gruesome deaths of supermodels. The investigation leads to the uncovering of a substance that grants great beauty, but with terrible consequences. If the premise sounds familiar, it’s because it’s very similar to 2024’s body horror hit movie The Substance.
Written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, The Substance follows Elisabeth Sparks (Demi Moore), a fading celebrity who is fired due to her age. Elisabeth learns of a black market drug that creates a younger and better version of herself (played by Margaret Qualley) and begins using it – however, there are strict rules to follow when using the drug, or horrifying side effects will happen.
The first trailer for The Beauty has further confirmed its similarities to The Substance, which has already drawn criticism and many questions around it, mostly about whether the show has taken any inspiration from Fargeat’s movie.
Is The Beauty A The Substance Rip-Off?
Given that The Beauty is arriving after The Substance, many viewers have questioned if it’s a rip-off of The Substance or if it takes any inspiration from it, but the timeline doesn’t quite match to say that one is imitating the other.
The Beauty comic book was published in 2016, and The Substance was released in 2024. Fargeat wrote The Substance after her first movie, Revenge, released in 2017, but it was partially inspired by Fargeat’s 2014 sci-fi short film Reality+.
The short film is about a futuristic Paris where a brain implant called Reality+ allows users to see themselves and others with their dream physique. Although Reality+ was released before The Beauty comic book, they aren’t as similar as The Beauty is to The Substance. Ultimately, it’s all a curious coincidence.
How The Beauty Can Be Different From The Substance
The Beauty and The Substance are both body horror stories about a substance that alters a person’s physical appearance for the better, but as similar as they are, they also have different elements that set them apart.
While The Substance focused on Elisabeth’s journey and the physical and psychological horrors she goes through before, during, and after taking the substance, The Beauty leans more towards mystery and crime. The Beauty has the element of the detectives looking to solve the murders, and it’s to be seen how they handle the substance.
The Beauty will inevitably be compared to The Substance, but, hopefully, it won’t take long for it to show how different it is and, luckily, succeed as itself.
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The Substance
10/10
- Release Date
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September 20, 2024
- Runtime
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140 Minutes
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Demi Moore
Elisabeth Sparkle
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