One of the most brutally shocking movies of this year; possibly of this decade, was released in UK cinemas on Friday. General audiences were reactive the same way a superhero fan might do to Sam Wilson walking through the portal in Avengers: Endgame but with fear instead of celebration en masse for the final twenty minutes of body horror master Coralie Fargeat follow up to Revenge, The Substance, in what amounts to a commentary on aging in the Hollywood business and how a desire of youth and beauty match up with the double standards of today. It opts for a what if premise straight out of Black Mirror or a Doctor Who monster of the week episode with echoes of Love & Monsters and Partners in Crime in their treatment of the antagonists, but with the ultimately doomed protagonist driven by a youthful desire – the aging Elisabeth Sparkle who is running out of time on her Oscar nomination and losing her dance show in favour of someone younger. Played by Demi Moore, in a career best form, she’s forced to watch her fame stripped away from her – until a solution arrives in the form of The Substance – a black market drug that creates a younger, better version of herself.
It’s a literal younger version of herself that his spawned out of Elisabeth in the most horrifyingly twisted way possible; the birthing of a new body out of the old, younger, fitter, more attractive and more beautiful. Coralie Fargeat doesn’t take long to examine that of self-hatred and reflection of rapid isolation with a descent into madness; body horror that comes to the forefront right at the start. You see the itching of the skin; the close-ups on the corrupt movie-execs tearing away seafood with the disgusting equivalent of watching someone eat with their mouth open – and have that someone be a Trumpian figure who you can’t say no to and need to please for the success of your career.
It’s visibly skin-scrawling from the start, Dennis Quaid is fantastic as the antagonist in the movie, creating the need for Elisabeth to be driven to The Substance. His eyes light up when he sees a direct like-for-like younger version of Elisabeth enter before him – Margaret Qualley’s Sue, a girl from a small town with dreams of becoming a star – who will get further than Ti West’s Pearl ever could – driven by ambition of fame and the desire to break the balance that defines the rules of The Substance. Sue and Elisabeth are one – to break the rules as either defies the other; and when the rules are inevitably broken; The Substance steps in – a real work of art that questions just how far you can push someone before they snap. The close-ups and inner photography give you the real sense of getting as close as possible to these characters; intense and internal visceral sense of no-holds barred all-access extravaganza. The make-up and body horror is Cronenbergian – an excellent double bill with Crimes of the Future would make for one of the most uncomfortable experiences of the year; and if anyone has seen Titane then they’ll be aware of the shock and awe that The Substance strives for.
It’s gross and disgusting and to go into it in more detail would be to ruin it – but going in having only seen the trailer leads you to a true delight – an internal battle where the double standards of beauty are at one with the image of self; is equally reflective at The Substance’s core. I covered my eyes at least twice – I don’t do that in horror movies anymore. A late night fever dream caters its way to the duality of womanhood – satire at its core meaning you’ll be laughing just as easily the next second as you are wincing in fear just before.
Long Live the New Flesh.
