“Dorian Gray” is one of many adaptations of Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a philosophical fiction and horror.  The story follows Dorian Gray, a young man who meets a painter, Basil Hallward, and his friend, Lord Henry Wotton. Basil, captured by Dorian’s beauty, paints him a portrait, to which he admits he’d trade his soul to look like his portrait forever. After this, Dorian’s corruption begins, influenced by Henry Wotton preaching and begins to live a hedonistic and selfish lifestyle. It shows that beauty cannot make up for one’s morals, and that pleasure is not the same as happiness. 

No movie adaptation is exact to its source material and this movie is the same. It is widely disliked for this reason, alongside what many consider sub-par acting.It is a bit slow paced at times, and some scenes are a bit unnecessary. Personally though, I really enjoyed the movie, and believe the story’s message was portrayed well enough. It is no replacement for the book in the slightest, but still conveys the general story in an interesting way. I watched it with two of my friends who said, “It was hard to follow the storyline at times” and “It was a really interesting movie, I’d only recommend it if you like weird movies.”

This is an R rated movie with many sexual and a few violent themes; keep this in mind if you decide to watch. As I said before, this is no replacement for the book, and if you get the chance do read Oscar Wildes “The Picture Of Dorian Gray.”