Spoilers ahead. "The Substance" is one of those movies best enjoyed knowing as little as possible going in, and I highly recommend it to horror fans. Its the best horror film in a year that's been great for horror. However, it gets pretty gruesome, so be warned.
I'm writing a spoiler review, because there's a lot to talk about, and I want to talk about all of it. And I mean all of it.
Writer and director Coralie Fargeat has returned after far too long for her second film, "The Substance." It's a body horror movie, about an aging actress named Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), who is fired from her role as a television fitness host, because a network executive, Harvey (Dennis Quaid) wants someone younger. Elisabeth is given a chance to access "The Substance," a mysterious drug that promises to create a better version of herself. This better version is Sue (Margaret Qualley), a beautiful young woman who emerges fully formed from Elisabeth's flesh to become the new "It" girl, but she can only be active when Elisabeth is comatose, and vice versa. They share a life, governed by strict rules, time limits, and mutual dependence. Balance and respect are vital to making their double-act work, and of course things go bad very quickly.
You could treat "The Substance" as an elevated horror film. It's a new take on the "All About Eve" story with a fading star being replaced by an ambitious ingenue, with plenty to say about fame, aging, self-hatred, and internalized misogyny. Demi Moore uses her status as a former A-lister in her sixties to stand in for everyone bitter about being past their prime, and all the women who are subjected to impossible beauty standards. The most impactful scene is surely the one where Elisabeth is getting ready for a date and gradually goes to pieces because she just can't stop comparing herself to Sue's physical perfection. Moore has never been more vulnerable and sympathetic onscreen. And of course "The Substance" is also about substance abuse in the most unsubtle terms, with the viciously entitled Sue demanding more and more time and resources, to Elisabeth's detriment.
I, however, am here for the filmmaking. As a visceral thrill ride, "The Substance" is fantastic fun. Taking place in a more overtly sleazy, bygone version of Hollywood, everything is deliberately heightened and stylized. The hypnotic slow motion, the smash-cut juxtapositions, the '80s aesthetics, and the symmetrical frames had me unable to take my eyes off the screen. And everything from the heightened sound design to the typography of the title cards is designed to elicit a very physical reaction from the viewer. I can't remember the last time I experienced so much sensory overload while watching a movie. Everything from a man eating shrimp to crinkling plastic bags to smeared makeup leaves a tactile impression. Several pivotal scenes play out with no dialogue because it's totally unnecessary. When the shock of blood and gore appear at last, it's almost a relief to be seeing more traditional horror images.
There have been some complaints circulating recently that you can't have female nudity in movies anymore without causing offense. "The Substance" provides a strong counterargument. I appreciate Fargeat's approach - both Moore and Qualley spend quite a bit of time in the buff, but it's never nudity for its own sake. Their bodies soon become canvasses for needle pricks, gaping wounds, weathered skin, mysterious lumps, and so much more. Sue is sexualized constantly, but usually for comedic effect or to spur on Elisabeth's discomfort and resentment. The aerobics program, notably, is constantly showing us crotch and posterior shots, but in such a way that is totally dehumanizing, until the female body parts look positively alien.
In the last twenty minutes the movie goes full gonzo splatterfest. Monstro Elisasue at the New Year's show is a masterpiece of grotesquerie, right up there with the best visuals from "The Thing" and "The Fly." I never thought I'd see a prosthetic monster like this onscreen again, and it was thrilling. Even better was Fargeat's willingness to go so far over the top in the delightfully insane finale, pushing all the camp and monstrosity into the realm of glorious, gooey Grand Guignol. There are references and homages to so many other horror classics from the likes of David Cronenberg, Peter Jackson, John Carpenter, Brian Yuzna, and Stanley Kubrick.
And Coralie Fargeat is making a great case for herself as one of those horror greats. May her next film make it to screens faster than this one did.
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