Just a couple of weeks to go now until the Oscars 2025, and Mhatt continues to tell you which of the runners and riders is worth your time this awards season. This time, one which Boba Phil also reviewed – The Substance.
The Substance
The Substance is written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. It stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid.
An aging starlet desperately tries to reclaim her youthful glory by ingesting a mysterious substance with dangerously addictive side effects.
Elisabeth (Moore) is in the Jane Fonda stage of her career, holding on to her beauty and her lifestyle by hosting a televised exercise program.
After overhearing that her producer Harvey (Quaid) is looking to replace her with a younger model, she seeks out The Substance and a chance to run back the clock.
She begins treatment and her body clones a younger version of herself called Sue (Qualley) whom she will share custody of her existence with for seven days as long as they both stick to the simple but strict instructions.
Time goes on, and the balance is respected until one version slips over their time limit, resulting in dire effects which snowball until both lives are compromised.
A desperate attempt to course correct leads to monstrous consequences.
Overall, The Substance is an interesting movie, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a great one.
Its central premise is, sadly, relatable and the message that youth is beauty is overshadowed by what I see as the more important message of;
”Hey, you may be old and starting to sag, but it could be a whole lot worse.”
The aesthetic of the movie effectively conveys the bleak and hopeless tone of modern day Los Angeles and enhances the otherwise pretty average B horror script.
I kept thinking I had seen something like this before and perhaps that is to director Fargeat’s credit, or maybe you can’t have a spooky body dysmorphia story set in a tight corner of the world without invoking David Cronenberg, Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch.
I appreciate Demi Moore for using her comeback and her, albeit well maintained, sixty-plus-year-old body to articulate her character’s age-associated characteristics.
The same goes for Qualley, who thoroughly maximizes her youthful exuberance, allowing us to empathize with her character as not so much malicious as challenged to contain her enthusiasm for existence.
At the end of the day, who among us knows when to say when? For me, it’s usually after a string of identical uncomfortable results that leave me humbled and exhausted, but luckily, for now, only deformed on the inside; here’s looking at you liver.
What You Should or Shouldn’t Watch For:
Demi Moore nominated for Best Actress
Coralie Fargeat nominated for Best Director / Best Original Screenplay
Best Picture
Best Makeup and Hairstyling. (*if this film deserves anything to be recognized it’s the make up)
Only recommended viewing for those who are conflicted by the silky touch of old age who go to bed one night looking 35 and wake up looking 50 and realizing no amount of rest will change things.
Or those nostalgic for peak Demi Moore and anyone who is interested in the current caliber of false breasts. They’re not real, but they are fantastic.