Trama

A spoiled and brat Prince lived in a castle in a French Kingdom long ago. He would throw big parties with his loyal subjects.

Somewhere in Rococo-era France, an enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman arrives at a debutante ball and offers an enchanted rose to a prince (Dan Stevens) in exchange for shelter from a storm, but he refuses. The old woman's haggard appearance disappeared to reveal a beautiful Enchantress. The Prince tried to ask for forgiveness, but the Enchantress had already seen there was no love in his heart. For his arrogance, the enchantress places a spell that transforms him into a beast to match his inhumane character, turns the servants into inanimate objects, and erases the castle from the villagers' memories. She gives the Beast a magic mirror that shows faraway events and leaves him the enchanted rose.

To break the curse, the prince must learn to love another and earn her love in return before the rose's last petal falls, otherwise the prince will remain a beast forever while his servants will lose their last vestiges of humanity.

The servants include Lumiere (Ewan McGregor) the Beast's charismatic Bouteiller, Maestro Cadenza (Stanley Tucci) the neurotic court composer and Madame De Garderobe's husband who has been transformed into a harpsichord, Cogsworth (Ian McKellen) the Beast's gruff but loyal majordomo and the head of the household staff who has been transformed into a mantel clock, Mrs. Potts (Emma Thompson) the castle's motherly head housekeeper who has been transformed into a teapot, Madame De Garderobe (Audra McDonald) a world-renowned Italian opera singer and Cadenza's wife who has been transformed into a wardrobe, Plumette (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) one of the castle maids and Lumiere's lover, who has been transformed into a flying, swan-shaped feather duster, and Chip (Nathan Mack) Mrs. Potts' plucky son who has been transformed into a teacup.

Years later during the 1780s, in the village of Villeneuve, a young woman, Belle (Emma Watson), lives with her father Maurice (Kevin Kline), an artist and tinkerer. Gaston (Luke Evans), a celebrated former soldier, seeks her hand in marriage, but she is repulsed by his arrogance and narcissism. Gaston attempts to woo her and invite himself to dinner with her, but she turns him down. Belle returns home to her father Maurice (Kevin Kline), a music box maker. He is in the process of creating a music box modeled after himself and his late wife, who was also Belle's mother. Maurice is set to head to another town to sell his music boxes, and Belle asks him to bring back a rose, like he always does.

On a trip to the market to sell music boxes, Maurice and his horse Philippe lose their way in the forest and are attacked by wolves. They pass through a gate that leads him onto the forgotten grounds of the Prince's castle. Maurice walks into the dining hall and sits down. He is startled when, a young boy turned into a teacup, moves toward him and speaks to him. Maurice runs out of the castle and starts to ride away until he passes through the garden and spots a rose. He tries to pick one for Belle, but he is found by the Beast, who calls Maurice a thief. The Beast takes him prisoner.

Philippe returns and Belle knows that something bad must have happened to Maurice. When she realizes her father is missing, Belle ventures into the forest in search for him, and finds him in the castle. The Beast confronts her and accepts her offer to take her father's place.

Belle meets and befriends the servants in the castle. Lumiere guides Belle out of the dungeon and into a room in the East Wing. Garderobe dresses Belle in a ghastly frock, which gives Belle the idea to use the ribbons to climb down the tower. The Beast tries to get Belle to join him for dinner, but he is too abrasive as he pounds on her bedroom door. The rose drops another petal, and as a result, the castle starts to shake and crumble a little. It also causes the castle objects to become less and less human.

Belle eventually wanders into the forbidden west wing and finds the enchanted rose. The Beast, enraged, frightens Belle into fleeing into the woods. He rescues her from a pack of wolves but is injured during the fight. Belle assists him to the castle and nurses him back to health. A friendship develops, and the servants tell her she may be the one who can break the curse. Mrs. Potts explains to Belle that the Beast was not always so unkind. Since they have known him all his life, they know that after the Prince's mother died, his father raised him to be the way he was before he was cursed. When Belle asks about the rose, the objects say that the Prince will remain a beast forever if the last petal falls without him finding someone to love and to love him back, and that they will become inanimate.

The Beast develops feelings for Belle and allows her access to his library. However, Belle remains uncertain of her feelings due to her imprisonment. The Beast shows Belle a gift the enchantress gave him, a book that could take people wherever they wanted. Belle uses it to bring the Beast and herself to a small house in Paris, where she used to live with her parents as an infant. They see it is abandoned and old, and after finding a plague doctor mask, learn for the first time that she and her father were forced to leave her mother's deathbed as the latter succumbed to the plague.

Meanwhile, Maurice returns to Villeneuve but is unable to convince the others to rescue Belle. Gaston agrees to help Maurice rescue Belle. Maurice leads Gaston and LeFou into the forest as they try to find the path to the castle. Gaston and LeFou think Maurice is just crazy. Once Gaston reveals his true intention to only be helping Maurice for Belle's hand, he also growls at Maurice and threatens to leave him to the wolves. Gaston tries to cover it up by putting on the nice guy act, but Maurice already sees who Gaston really is and makes it clear that he will never allow Gaston to marry Belle. Gaston knocks Maurice out cold and ties him to a tree so the wolves can come after him.

Maurice is rescued by a hermit, Agathe (Hattie Morahan), and openly accuses Gaston of his crime. When Maurice calls out LeFou as a witness, Gaston intimidates LeFou into lying to cover his back. Gaston has Maurice dismissed as a delusional madman. Gaston convinces the townsfolk to send Maurice to the local asylum.

The Beast invites Belle to dance with him in the ballroom. Garderobe dresses Belle in a beautiful gown while Lumiere and the others try to properly groom the Beast. The two then meet in the staircase and walk into the ballroom as Cadenza plays a tune to accompany them. Belle and the Beast share a romantic dance.

After sharing a romantic dance with the Beast, Belle discovers her father's predicament using the magic mirror. The Beast allows her to leave to save Maurice, giving her the mirror to look back on him with. The Beast climbs his tower in despair as Belle rides away, though he knows now that he truly does love her. The castle objects become sad since they know Belle doesn't love him in return for the curse to be broken.

Gaston has Maurice committed to a mental institution, managed by Monsieur D'Arque. At Villeneuve, Belle proves Maurice's sanity by revealing the Beast in the mirror. Realizing that Belle loves the Beast, Gaston has her thrown into the asylum carriage with her father and rallies the villagers to follow him to the castle to slay the Beast. Maurice and Belle escape from confinement and Belle rushes back to the castle.

Lumiere then leads all the castle objects into a plan. As the villagers enter, LeFou sees Mrs. Potts and Chip, mistakenly assuming Mrs. Potts is his grandmother. She is not happy, and she initiates the fight. Lumiere lights up the floor, Mrs. Potts pours hot tea on the attackers, Cadenza shoots his piano keys, Cogsworth sends flying books to hit the villagers, and Garderobe dresses Three French Stooges in powdered wigs, make-up, and gowns. Two stooges run away in horror, but the third stooge is rather pleased with his look. Cadenza sits on LeFou, who asks Gaston for help.

During the ensuing fight, Gaston abandons his companion LeFou (Josh Gad), who sides with the servants to fend off the villagers. Gaston attacks the Beast in his tower, who is initially too depressed to fight back, but regains his will upon seeing Belle return. He corners Gaston but spares his life before reuniting with Belle. However, Gaston fatally shoots the Beast in the back. Karma then goes for Gaston as the bridge he is standing on crumbles, and he falls to his death.

The Beast dies as the last rose petal falls and the castle's servants become completely inanimate. Plumette turns into an ordinary feather duster in Lumiere's arms. Mrs. Potts frantically looks for Chip as she becomes a regular teapot. Chip arrives soon after and almost crashes but is caught by the coat hanger, and they both become inanimate along with the wardrobe and her husband and pet dog. Lumiere and Cogsworth express their mutual friendship before they too become inanimate.

Belle professes her love to him, then Agathe reveals herself as the enchantress and undoes the curse, restoring the Beast's life and human form.

The servants' humanity and the villagers' memories are also restored, with few of the villagers recognizing some of the servants as their loved ones. Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Plumette, Cadenza, and Garderobe all wake up and turn human again and reunite with their loved ones. Mrs. Potts reunites with her husband from the village, while Cogsworth reunites with his wife.

The prince and Belle host a ball for the kingdom, where they dance happily.