The Substance: A Body Horror Like No Other
The Substance, the latest film from French writer-director Coralie Fargeat, is a cinematic experience like no other. It’s a body horror film that will leave you squirming in your seat, covering your eyes, and yet, somehow, still mesmerized by the sheer audacity of its twisted vision.
The Substance: where beauty and horror collide
The film tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a Jane Fonda-esque starlet played by Demi Moore, who’s being unceremoniously fired from her decades-long position as the host of a successful daytime exercise show. The head of the network, played with grotesque relish by Dennis Quaid, delivers the news with all the tact of a sledgehammer, shoving wet, oily shrimp into his mouth as he explains to Elisabeth that “things just stop after 50” for women.
The network executive’s… unusual… snack of choice
Rather than fade into obscurity, Elisabeth takes a gamble on a black-market drug called the Substance. And that’s when things take a turn for the truly bizarre. The Substance is a mysterious, acid-green liquid that promises to restore Elisabeth’s youth and beauty, but at a terrible cost.
The Substance: a beauty treatment like no other
As Elisabeth injects the Substance into her veins, her body begins to undergo a grotesque transformation. Her back splits open like a raw coconut, and a naked, slick Margaret Qualley crawls out. It’s a scene that’s both disgusting and darkly funny, setting the tone for the rest of the film’s graphic and unflinching exploration of body horror.
The Substance: where beauty and horror collide
The new, younger, more optimized Elisabeth, who renames herself Sue, plans to take back everything that’s been stolen from her. She rebooks her old job and then some, fucks whoever she wants, and leaves passersby speechless over her beauty and vitality. But there’s a catch: Elisabeth and Sue are not two separate women but one, inextricable from each other. And they must switch places every seven days, or face irreversible consequences.
Sue: the ultimate symbol of beauty and vitality
As the film descends into a maelstrom of body horror, it raises uncomfortable questions about the nature of beauty, youth, and identity. Is it worth sacrificing one’s very soul for eternal youth and beauty? The Substance seems to think so, but at what cost?
The Substance: a cautionary tale of beauty and horror
The Substance is a film that will leave you gasping in shock, covering your eyes, and yet, somehow, still mesmerized by its sheer audacity. It’s a cinematic experience like no other, a true original that will haunt your dreams and leave you questioning the very nature of beauty itself.
The Substance: a true original
