The Substance (2024)

Moore, Qualley & Quaid are sensational in this horrific, brutal & hysterically funny body horror - The Substance review by TB

This film is genius. It is so extreme, so shocking & in parts so horrific, you wonder what kind of a mind could imagine it. But it is also a scorchingly funny & biting satire on not only the demands of women to look a certain way & never grow old, but also the very human trait of never being satisfied with what we have/always wanting more.

Elisabeth Sparkle is a former A-list Hollywood celebrity, who in her prime was the Queen of Tinseltown. In her later years, she fronts an 80's style exercise programme, dressed in leotards that leaves little to the imagination. Then, on her 50th birthday, she is fired simply for being too old, by the monstrous & revolting TV executive Harvey. After being in a car accident & ending up in hospital, she is given the details of a revolutionary new drug which allows you to create a younger version of yourself, which you can embody for 7 days before having to switch back. However, her clone has other ideas, leading to catastrophic consequences...

I loved this film, for so many reasons. A theme throughout many of my reviews is that so many major films now tell basically the same story with slightly different situations/tweaks. It is dull, boring dreck made by a hideously demented machine (Hollywood) which churns out duds by the bucket load. So for a film like this to be made, which also is a scathing criticism of that industry, is a rare thing. But it is also so much more than this.

Whilst I can praise Qualley & Quaid, this film is Demi Moore's masterpiece. Her performance is one of striking vulnerability (multiple nude scenes as well as makeup/prostheses which make her look absolutely horrendous,) alongside a knowing wink that she is totally in on the joke. Sparkle could literally be a metaphor for her career (highly successful in her early life before several duds derailed it.)

But one fundamental point I did take from the film & which I felt was repeatedly but subtly referenced is that there was never any need for Sparkle to go down this horrendous rabbit hole/change her appearance. As a 50 year old (bear in mind that Moore filmed this when she was nearly 60,) she is in phenomenal shape. It is the industry she is in, alongside a pressure on all women to keep their youthful looks.

As her clone Sue, Qualley does exceptional work. Whilst she very quickly is successful, being cast as the replacement for Sparkle, then having all the associated perks that come with this, her eyes are always dead, knowing she has gotten into a Faustian bargain which will soon go catastrophically wrong. As her desperation to continue being Sue becomes all-consuming & parasitic, it is a gripping but horrifying thing to behold.

And rounding it all off, Dennis Quaid has the kind of role actors would kill for. Playing Harvey (an unbelievably unsubtle reference to a disgraced & convicted former producer,) you can see Quaid is walking on Cloud 9. Harvey is a walking sleazeball, all the worst traits of a TV executive turned up to 11. Whether engaging in a disgustingly misogynistic phone call about Sparkle whilst she is in the toilet next to him, through to a restaurant meal with her where he eats like a combination of a pig & a cement mixer, he is human vermin.

But I cannot overstate just how funny this film is. There were several laugh out loud moments for me, some involving the pervy nextdoor neighbour, or the horror of Sparkle when she wakes to see what has happened as a result of not following the rules of the drug.

Be warned though, you need a strong stomach for a lot of this film, especially the ending. But again, this is also a stroke of genius. After a crazy & off-the-wall 2 hours, the payoff is perfect, a crackers end to a bonkers film.

This is filmmaking at it's very best: daring, provocative, no holds barred, with actors who give their everything to their characters. Incredible & brilliant

Just Hand them out Now - The Substance review by griggs

Demi Moore's performance in The Substance is so potent that it's hard to tell what's more intoxicating; her inevitable Best Actress win or Coralie Fargeat's razor-sharp screenplay that's already got the Oscar in the bag.