I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Coralie Fargeat’s new body horror movie , The Substance but having seen her previous Film “Revenge” quite recently I was expecting it to have its fair share of violence and blood . I wasn’t wrong.
Making use of Time-lapse photography Coralie innovatively covers the backstory of our now ageing beauty star Elizabeth Sparkle ( Demi Moore) who is having to work hard to maintain both her looks and her position on the fitness TV show she presents.
The chance for Elizabeth to get a “quick fix” using The Substance proves too hard to resist but rather than getting a makeover she ends up delivering a younger version of herself called Sue (Margaret Qualley) in what is quite literally a back breaking scene.
While Sue takes over all the limelight as the new fitness sensation Elizabeth becomes increasingly isolated and withdrawn. The situation isn’t helped when Sue decides not to keep to the instructions for using “The Substance” resulting in Elizabeth becoming ever more hideous and grotesque.
The film is set in Hollywood (Cannes used here as a substitute) with a futuristic feel to it and the driving score by Raffertie keeps us continuously on edge throughout.
Moore and Qualley work incredibly well together and Dennis Quaid is supremely over the top as the Head of the TV station – watch out for the shrimps!
Although it’s taken to the extreme , Fargeat’s message about how we are increasingly over critical with ourselves as we age and the steps we sometimes feel we need to take to deal with it resonates forcefully.
It was a new film experience for me but an interesting and entertaining one although I would advise watching it in the cinema as part of a collective experience – helps bring a lighter side to some of the more grotesque scenes.
