Year of Release: 2024
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Hugo Diego Garcia, Oscar Lesage, Alexandra Papoulias Barton, Joseph Balderrama, Gore Abrams, Oscar Salem, Tom Morton
Genre: Horror, Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis and Review
"The Substance" is writer/director Coralie Fargeat's sophomore directorial endeavor, and has made quite a critical splash since having its debut at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it ended up winning the best screenplay award. The film follows the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, an actress now in her 50s who has a successful fitness broadcast, but who in the past was the toast of Hollywood, winning numerous accolades, which culminated in getting her own star in the Walk of Fame. She accidentally discovers that the head of the network wants to replace her with someone younger, something that is confirmed when he takes her to lunch to communicate his intentions (which he is barely able to articulate). Obviously distressed over the news, Elisabeth is involved in a car crash, where she suffers no injuries, but where one of the nurses gives her a flash drive and a mobile number only indicating "The Substance". After watching its content, Elisabeth dismisses it, but fear of obsoletion makes her reach out to the number on the drive. She gets the package with all items in a rather shady part of town. The package has pretty simple instructions. The new version of her will share the same DNA, and they get to enjoy 7 days each time, upon which they have to swap on who "has the stage". They have to nourish each other and there's a stabilizer that enables the new "You" to function. Elisabeth's new "You", who takes the name of Sue, with her supple beauty, freshness and personality, seize the attention of the network, who quickly line her up to replace Elisabeth's former show. The more Sue gets comfortable in her own skin, she starts pushing on the time distribution between hers and Elisabeth's existence, which starts leaving its consequences on the latter, who becomes more and more dissatisfied with the situation.
"The Substance" is a very intelligent take on the obsession with youth, beauty, and in particular, with the objectification of women in Hollywood (and in the media in general). The film has some influences of early David Cronenberg work, including "Rabid", "The Fly" and aspects of "Videodrome", both in terms of the aspect of body tampering but also for the fact that the film doesn't have a particular time stamp on it (while some aspects are modern, others bring to mind the exercise tapes from Jane Fonda that were popular in the 80s, and even the production design is a combination of modern and retro). The parasitical relationship that is created from Sue towards Elisabeth, and the cruelty the first one has towards the second, particularly as the second one ages and suffers the consequences of the extreme behaviors caused by Sue, is in many ways a take on how aging is viewed in our society, where the elderly are seen as something to be removed, brushed aside, or simply forgotten (and particularly for women, as something to be ashamed of, particularly for those who are and have been in positions of high visibility). The film illustrates most men as either monstrous, which is the case of Dennis Quaid's character (a representation of chauvinism and corporate greed at its worst), or sex objects without much dimension to them (in particular Sue's love interests, both of whom are represented as most women have been depicted in many films). It's a very smart and layered film that packs a lot of symbolism, and while the third chapter goes raucously over the top, it does demonstrate that humanity is indeed cruel and horrific, particularly towards those who are different, and at times those who are a result of their own insane beauty and perfection standards. Demi Moore in particular has never been better, and she goes completely unhinged as Elisabeth, someone who is deeply afraid of her irrelevance, even at the brink of her own death. She has great support from Margaret Qualley, who creates a vapid Sue, though at times her superficiality (and ambition) is almost too superficial. The production team is superb, including Raffertie's score, Benjamin Kracun's cinematography, Stanislas Reydellet's production design, and Emmanuelle Youchnovski's costumes. The makeup effects are also impeccable. This may not be for everyone's taste, but it's a great ride.
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