Occasionally I wander into a film having no expectations whatsoever and leave completely blown away. The Substance is certainly in this category.
The shorts and trailer don’t do it justice as this ‘spin out’ of a film takes you a ride you will find difficult to erase from your memory.
Demi Moore gives a gutsy performance as a veteran aerobics legend who has had a long standing show on network TV. She’s middle aged and despite a successful career and with a star on Hollywood Boulevard, her repulsive network boss played superbly by Dennis Quaid, wants her replaced with a newer, sexier version.
When Demi’s character Elizabeth Sparkle has a chance meeting with a doctor who believes he has the secret to eternal youth, she gets tempted and buys the package known as ‘The Substance’.
The fact that Elizabeth’s character takes such a risk without truly knowing the consequences plays to female insecurities around always wanting to look like the models in magazines and on TV and not accepting their own beauty for what it is.
The outcome from taking ‘The Substance’ is dire and Elizabeth incredibly produces an adult younger version who isn’t actually her, but a flawless woman with enormous ambition and sinister intent.
Her name is Sue, played by Margaret Qualley, and whilst she has a responsibility to share her life with Elizabeth by engaging in ‘The Substance’s’ process, she greedily drains the life from Elizabeth and forges forward replacing her on TV and becomes a star in her own right.
From there, the last third of the film becomes a wild ride as Elizabeth fights to survive and Sue fends her off as it heads towards a blood curdling finale that makes Carrie look like Mary Poppins.
The film has been described as a satirical body horror film. It’s clearly a pointed reflection on both women’s body dysmorphia and men’s obsession with a woman’s perfect body and the misogyny that often accompanies that.
The film is interestingly written and directed by a French woman Coralie Fargeat along with a French team, with an entirely American cast.
The style of the film reminded me of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 and A Clockwork Orange. That clean, sharp look permeates into Elizabeth’s apartment and the TV studio where most of the action takes place.
The visual effects are as gross as your worst nightmare but because of the genius of their construction, it’s impossible to look away.
The close up camera work is fantastic and this is where the film feels very French. Coralie’s influences from what I’ve read, are horror based such as David Cronenberg but I loved the attention to detail where almost every shot is a work of art.
This is a stark message to women to just be yourself and not search for some magic solution to eternal beauty.
Chasing a superficial remedy to beauty as opposed to being your authentic self is filled with risks both physically and mentally.
In Elizabeth Sparkle’s case it ends in a dystopian nightmare, the likes of which the viewer hopefully will never see again. 8/10
By the way it is great to see so many seats being taken up once again at our beautiful Regent Theatre in Ballarat. The hand-made choc tops are sensational too!
Thankyou Palace Cinemas for saving the day and bringing us such a variety of films again!
