I don’t write film reviews very often – partly because I mostly watch TV shows, mainly because I feel less qualified to write them in comparison to books. However, I do have my opinions, and since this is my blog and not a movie magazine, I might share some of my thoughts and recommendations whenever I watched a movie that’s worth re-view-ing. And this week, it is The Substance. Written, directed and produced by Coralie Fargeat, the 2024 movie tells a monstrous tale about beauty and body standards. It’s grotesque, sick, humourous, disgusting, gorey. And I really enjoyed it. Here’s the official trailer:
Two amazing protagonists, Demi Moore as aging movie star Elizabeth Sparkle and Margaret Qualley as her younger counterpart Sue. And by amazing, I mean amazing. Margaret Qualley is the perfect arrogant bitch thriving in her youthful, perfectly shaped, seductive body and I will have trouble to not perceive the actress as exactly that. Demi Moore steals the show with an intense range even under tons of prosthetics. The movie is very sensual, especially visually and auditorily. Techno dance beats à la Eric Prydz, epilepsy-inducing cuts and lightening effects, lots of ASMR. There is a scene in the beginning of the movie of Dennis Quaid eating tiger shrimps. Although “eating” is too clean of a word. You see little bits of shrimp flesh flying around as he speaks, you hear the crunching and cracking of the shell, and it is all so disgustingly fascinating. Halfway through the movie, there is a sparkle (pun intended) of hope that the protagonist might accept the inevitable fate of aging – if that sparkle prevails you can find out for yourself. Or, no, screw that. Stop reading if you haven’t watched it yet and come back after. Because of course it all goes to shit and from Elisabeth (Part I), through Sue (Part II) we get to Monstro Elisasue (Part III), an Elephant Man-like creature born from literal body dysmorphia. And still, we see some beauty in it.
The Substance is body horror aka can make you feel very uneasy so don’t watch it if you have a sensible stomach for this kind of stuff. IMHO, it deserves the numerous accolades it got, because it is so much more than just a horror film. It’s a piece of art, inspired by Dario Argento in style while mirroring the ridiculous beauty standards for women in public. Definitely a recommendation.
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