The Substance - Movie Review

Critics Score - 9 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

Every year at the Cannes Film Festival in France, filmmakers, critics and movie lovers from across the globe gather to revel in the art form that is cinema, the motion picture. At the conclusion they give out awards, somewhat similar to the Oscars. This year one of the films that was nominated for the festival’s top prize of Palme d’Or and won the Best Screenplay award was the new film The Substance, from writer/director Coralie Fargeat. From the same mind that brought us Revenge (2017), her new film is just hitting theatres and delves deep into the same vein of body horror as, say, the French film Titane from Julia Docournau a few years ago. Now if you thought that film was sexy, twisted, disturbing, and probably perverse, Fargeat essentially told Docournau, “Hold my beer.” Nothing that I say or explain about this movie can really prepare you adequately for what you will behold when you enter the theatre and the lights dim for this one. I cannot even hardly believe I saw what I did earlier, it’s literally one of the most totally incredible and simultaneously bat shit crazy things I’ve ever witnessed on the big screen. For those of us that are squeamish around needles, like myself, this film will make you uncomfortable. For those of you that are bothered by gore and blood, this film will not be to your liking. In this review I will simply give a slight overview but won’t delve far into the plot details for the sake of not spoiling the experience. Suffice it to say this is a film like no other, it’s truly an anomaly in so many ways. I cannot even put it into words other than to say if you’re truly a fan of cinema and or body horror and have a strong constitution, run to your nearest cinema for a juicy taste of The Substance.

SYNOPSIS - Our film opens with the a shot looking straight down at an uncooked egg, not whole, but opened, we see the yellow yolk sitting in the translucent egg “white”, it is sitting on a light blue surface. After a moment, a black plastic glove covered hand holding a syringe with bright yellow liquid enters the frame and injects the liquid into the egg yolk. The hand disappears and we watch as the egg remains undisturbed a few moments. But then on the right side of the yolk, a small yellow bubble appears and begins to grow until eventually a whole other yolk pops out of the first and sits there beside it. The scene cuts and we’re staring straight down, again, only this time we see the large dark squares of a sidewalk. Some men begin to work on the reddish square in the center of the frame, putting gold pieces in place until we see a star formation take shape, they’re installing a star for a celebrity “Elisabeth Sparkle” on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. After installation, in a time lapse of sorts, we see people walking on it year after year, rain, snow, leaves falling, the passage of time and eventually the star cracks in a couple places. Finally a clumsy tourist walking by drops a burger on it, smearing ketchup all over the star. As the camera zooms in on the condiment covered stone, the shot suddenly changes to Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) in a dark blue bodysuit as she conducts a workout session with four other women for her aerobics TV show, Sparkle Your Life. Elizabeth finishes recording her show and heads out of the studio, down a corridor of massive posters lined on either side of the wall, illuminating her illustrious career as a television star.

At the end of the hall, the star goes to use the women’s restroom but it’s closed, so peering around and not seeing anyone, she enters the men’s room and goes in one of the stalls. Within a minute the misogynistic TV show manager unironically named Harvey (Dennis Quaid), enters the bathroom and walks over to the urinal, his face just inches from the camera. This film utilizes some insanely closeup shots of faces, particularly Quaid, as well as eating, chewing and food, amongst other things. Harvey is on his cell phone spouting “We need her young, we need her hot, we need her now!”. He wants Elisabeth’s show replaced with another, featuring a younger woman. As she emerges from the stall and looks at herself in the mirror, we see water running down the sink as Elisabeth processes what she’s just heard. On her way home after a meeting with Harvey over her future with the studio, she gets into a terrible car accident but fortunately isn’t badly injured. After the doctor finishes up and tells her she’s good to go, a young male nurse, opening the back of her gown, begins touching her spine and after checking her strangely says, “You’d be a good candidate.” As Elisabeth leaves and walks out, putting on a large mustard yellow coat that becomes a visual staple for the film, she finds a thumb drive with a phone number on it wrapped in a note reading, “It changed my life”. She goes home and plugging the drive into the back of her TV, Elisabeth watches the video that vaguely explains what “The Substance” is and what you can expect from it. I will stray no further into the plot for the sake of spoilers but suffice it to say that eventually Sue (Margaret Qualley) joins the fun and things start to get really interesting. As the party starts rocking, Elisabeth and Sue start finding their once parallel lines of thinking begin to diverge and the consequences can only be described as total f***ing chaos. The gas pedal sticks to the floor and this ride goes a million miles an hour careening towards the most improbable ending you could ever hope to conjure up in your wildest dreams or imagination.

Where to begin?!!! Let’s start with the direction of this film. It is almost as tight as this banger of a script. As Coralie Fargeat directs, she really sinks her teeth into this screenplay, along with the two lead performers, and savagely rips off bite after bite of the deliciousness that are the words on the page. There’s a specific reason I use this analogy, you’ll see. Fargeat’s direction is precise, the commentary the film makes about men, the perception of beauty and the struggle to maintain it at any cost, sexuality as depicted onscreen, it all hits right on the nose. But there is a reason this screenplay won the Cannes top prize, it is absolutely diabolical and ruthless in the ways it uses its satire and body horror to discuss its themes. As mentioned, both Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are feasting on this material, more food analogies. Both these women are incredible and although Moore has slightly more screen time, these actresses are dialed into exactly what this film is doing and when it pushes into overdrive, they are right there with it. I think that Demi Moore especially will get some recognition for this work with some critics prizes at the end of the year, but I have to hope beyond hope that this work could possibly be recognized by some of the big awards ceremonies, sadly. The Oscars especially don’t go for horror. Stylistically, with it’s editing, music and many of the technical elements, they coincide with the breakneck pace and uptempo style the film hits, especially when the second act kicks in. As things start amping up and even at a two hour and twenty minute runtime, there is virtually no lag felt at all. This is a pure adrenaline rush. The original score from Raffertie, with lots of club themed beats, haunting noises and trippy sound effects, composes a vibe to fit this film like hollandaise sauce on crayfish. Inside joke for people who’ve already seen it. The production design is likewise slick, a bit retro and fun, the costumes as well, especially for Dennis Quiad’s character are absolutely dynamite. Besides all the superlative adjectives I’ve used to describe this film, it is also intentionally misogynistic in it’s portrayal of the female body. It’s extremely sexual, although no actual sex acts are depicted, and this is a deliberately ironic choice because it is directed by a woman. Lastly the makeup work on this film is other level in terms of body horror, this film sets a completely new standard for all that would look to follow in the steps of David Cronenberg. This is easily one of the most fun and memorable movie watching experiences I’ve had, not only of this year but this decade.

SUMMARY - Cinephiles rejoice! The fall films are upon us and I cannot think of a more suitable way to kick things off with a  bang than with the one Fargeat brings us. This Mubi film is absolutely savage in all the best ways and this is one movie that you won’t have to sacrifice style over The Substance because it’s got it all.