- Director: Coralie Fargeat
- Screenplay: Coralie Fargeat
- Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
- Cinematography: Benjamin Kracun
- Editing: Coralie Fargeat, Jérôme Eltabet, Valentin Feron
- Score: Raffertie
- Genre: Satirical body horror
- Runtime: 140 minutes
Ever wanted to be younger? More beautiful? More perfect? You may want to try ‘the substance’, a greenish liquid that, when injected, creates ‘a better’ version of yourself, with a whole other body gorily birthed out of your back.
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a washed up actress who was once a somebody (she’s an Oscar winner and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame), is fired from her job as the face of an aerobics television show (reminiscent of 80s Jane Fonda) on her 50th birthday. In an industry obsessed with looks, she feels the pressure to be youthful and ‘attractive’ so injects herself with this dodgy serum she collects from an alley. The result – a perkier, younger avatar named Sue (Margaret Qualley). Heads turn as she walks down the street, she replaces Elisabeth on TV without even a glance at a resume. She’s ‘perfect’, as least as conventional beauty standards go.
Both actresses give fearless, body-baring performances. I was initially dubious about the casting of Demi Moore; she’s still in great shape so the idea of Elisabeth being past her prime in any way seemed moot. But it made sense down the line as, when things inevitably take a bad turn, she realised how good she had it before in spite of what chauvinistic bigwigs might say. Lesson learned – don’t try to cheat the aging process. Dennis Quaid is also well cast as the sleazy producer of the show (it can’t be a coincidence his character is named Harvey…).
My metaphorical hat goes off to director/screenwriter Coralie Fargeat. She’s created something that’s bold, blackly comic, and totally bizarre – the most grotesque body transformation since David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly‘. The cinematography is sublime; endless corridors and shots of palm trees flicking between day and night highlighting the dichotomy between the two women. It completely demolishes any preconceived beauty standards the western world has and puts a spotlight on the sexism and ageism women over a certain age face in a way that’s tragic yet totally batshit crazy at the same time.
At the start, Elisabeth receives a flash drive telling her about ‘the substance’, it comes with a note reading: ‘this will change your life’ – I think this daring piece of film-making will do the same. I’ve never been so glad to be comfortable in my own skin.
My rating: 9 / 10
SilverScreen 