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It’s a delicate balance to create a genuinely silly satire while still having some of the most blood-curdling moments in recent horror history. If those criteria sound specific, it’s because French writer-director Coralie Fargeat’s new film, “The Substance,” pulls off that equilibrium in strides.

In her follow-up to her rape-revenge film aptly called “Revenge,” Fargeat focuses on how society and the entertainment industry force women into narrow beauty standards and expectations for stardom. There’s nothing particularly subtle about “The Substance,” with a clear and uncomplicated point to make that occasionally feels like low-hanging fruit. But, through the lead performances of Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, the film offers a glimpse into how these standards can lead women to internalize self-hatred.

Moore’s character, Elisabeth Sparkle, is a washed-up actress who now leads a morning aerobics show. The film expertly shows Sparkle’s rise and fall through an opening montage where she receives a Hollywood Walk of Fame star that eventually withers away and cracks. Additionally, the casting of Moore, who was a superstar actress in the 80s and 90s before fading from the spotlight and facing eating disorders and alcoholism, adds a personal touch to a film.

Fargeat uses the camera to place Elisabeth in the center of the frame to show how she’s the subject of the male gaze from her boss Harvey (Dennis Quaid) and any man who talks to her. Moore displays her discomfort to the audience through her facial reactions. Whenever Elisabeth looks at a billboard displaying a beautiful young woman, we can tell she hates how she looks. Once she bluntly admits her hatred for herself near the film’s end, we’re already distinctly aware of her feelings.

The film makes it a point to show explicitly how society conditions women to have these feelings. Harvey condescendingly mentions to Elisabeth how everything changes for a woman after 50 – right before he fires her for no longer fitting his definition of being young and beautiful.

Insert the titular “Substance”: the product that can change your life. It’s a serum that makes a literal younger, more beautiful version of yourself come out of you. This is no exaggeration. At the climax of taking the Substance, Qualley’s character, Sue, emerges from Elisabeth’s back, reminiscent of body-horror legend David Cronenberg’s movies.

Elisabeth swaps consciousnesses with her younger self, Sue (Qualley), every seven days without exception. While Elisabeth walks around Los Angeles, no one cares to see her. But once she becomes Sue, no one can get enough of her. There are so many purposely and comedically cringe-inducing moments where men cannot stop fawning over Sue. It doesn’t matter that Sue quite literally popped out of nowhere; men in the entertainment business are obsessed with this beautiful young woman who loves to smile.

Qualley has shown through recent starring roles in zany and provocative works like “Kinds of Kindness,” “Drive-Away Dolls” and “Poor Things” that she isn’t afraid to play a part in grisly films like this one. Nothing stops Qualley from being free-wheeling on camera while portraying a character that basically serves as a body-horror version of “Barbie.” She comically and unsettlingly craves the spotlight as Sue, who begins to seem less like Elisabeth and more like her own person. But the more Sue sticks around, the more Elisabeth’s body starts to wrinkle and change, with uncomfortable close-up shots showing how a body can wrinkle and rot.

The Substance supplier insists that Elisabeth and Sue are the same person, but the film seems to have an unclear, or at the very least muddied, answer as to whether that’s really the case. For a film that uses the mise-en-scène to forcefully nudge the audience to understand the point, having certain sections feel unclear makes the viewer question who is really telling this story. This question points to the possibility that the film is from the point of view of the same men who make going to the black market for beauty drugs a necessity for staying relevant.

Fargeat clarifies that she still finds society and mass entertainment companies responsible for the actions portrayed in this film. She employs a first-person point of view to further place us in the shoes of Elisabeth/Sue, helping us understand how our feelings about our body and our place in the world can change violently.

Though the film may always say the quiet part out loud, the process of internalizing these conditions is where Fargeat thrives dramaturgically. Each time Elisabeth switches to being Sue, she may not like it, but she accepts it because the world around her has told her she should.

Through gleefully disgusting effects and a final 25 minutes that will leave any viewer’s stomach in tatters, “The Substance” shows no regard for being subtle or particularly profound. The slightly campy fable mainly wants to gross you out as much as possible.

Published on September 24, 2024 at 10:04 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com