In February 2020, Netflix debuted a new take on an old reality standby: the dating show. Much like the series that launched the genre into the mainstream, The Bachelor, Love Is Blind gave its attractive young contestants a relatively short amount of time to get to know each other and decide whether or not they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together (or at least the promotional period after the finale). However, the catch was they didn’t get to lay eyes on their betrothed until the actual proposal. Now, Netflix is back with a twisted update to Love Is Blind‘s central gimmick — it’s just slightly more terrifying.
In Love Is Blind, the would-be suitors’ appearances were kept hidden by having them date in respective tricked-out closets. The final reveals were exciting, but the dates themselves were sort of like watching two people talk on the phone. Netflix’s Sexy Beasts solves that problem in a creative, if disturbing, way. The series, which hits the streaming service on July 21, allows its contestants to interact in real life. However, the catch is they have to flirt from underneath pounds of prosthetics and special effects makeup that has transformed them into, well, beasts.
It’s unlikely any of the show’s beasts will find the other beasts — as the title suggestively implies– sexy. The trailer depicts participants done up as a panda, a dolphin, a rodent, a dinosaur and a few more creatures that aren’t immediately identifiable. As a result, Sexy Beasts will probably contain an element of cringe humor on top of the typical variety that comes from awkward pickup lines and unforeseen rejection. If Love Is Blind topped the charts as a curiosity, one imagines something with the elevated ridiculousness of Sexy Beasts has a good chance to rise up Netflix’s ranks as well.
Though it is almost too absurd to believe, Sexy Beasts was clearly inspired by another reality competition hit of the last few years, The Masked Singer. But it’s not a rip-off. That series uses the gag to disguise celebrities playing competitive karaoke. As such, the costume element is a necessary oddity to obscure identities in both cases. However, the bizarro makeovers on The Masked Singer are more elaborate and theatrical than they are realistic and purposefully offputting, as is the case with Sexy Beasts.
While Love Is Blind tested whether or not people could fall in love sight unseen, Sexy Beasts wonders whether it’s possible to develop feelings for someone with the literal face of a rat. Viewers will find out in July, but the answer will probably be yes, at least for one or two of these anthropomorphized couples.
Reality TV in general and dating shows, in particular, have been proven successes for Netflix. It might showcase titles like The Queen’s Gambit or Bridgerton come awards season. However, it’s the guilty pleasures like Tiger King and, likely, Sexy Beasts that keep subscribers hanging around in between prestige hits.
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