The film of the moment is called The Substance and has been showing in German cinemas since Thursday. This bitterly angry body-horror satire captivates you for 141 minutes and shocks you with an insane finale.
Since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, The Substance has been causing a stir. The second feature film by French directing sensation Coralie Fargeat delivers the most disturbing body horror since Titane in the guise of a scathing Hollywood satire. In other words, Fargeat picks up exactly where she left off seven years ago with her no-less-gripping screen debut Revenge.
If you are looking for an unforgettable cinematic experience, then you should definitely get a ticket for The Substance. Sure, you can always catch up on this movie later at home, but experiencing this horror film together with other people in a dark room significantly increases the event character of the movie. Not least because it is designed like a spiral of the incomprehensible.
But what exactly is The Substance about?
Black Mirror meets body horror: The Substance is a bitter Hollywood satire with an incredible finale
The premise sounds like an episode of Black Mirror: Hollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is shocked to discover that there is no longer any place for her in the dream factory after her 50th birthday. Where fans once besieged her star on the Walk of Fame, there is now a bleak picture of cracks and fractures. Even worse: studio boss Harvey (Dennis Quaid) takes away her fitness show.
Watch the trailer for The Substance here:
In her search for a way out, Elisabeth stumbles upon the mysterious product that gives the film its title. The Substance creates a young version of itself by multiplying cells. From the back of the aging Elisabeth, Sue (Margaret Qualley), blessed with eternal youth, emerges. The catch: Sue and Elisabeth can only wander the world for seven days at a time.
The Substance instructions speak of a “perfect balance”. But the rhythm is by no means easy to maintain. Especially when Sue has all doors open to her and she hasn’t even gone through half of them after a week. If she allows herself an extra day, Elizabeth will feel the effects of an accelerated aging process and the uncompromising transformation of the bodies will begin.
Coralie Fargeat stages a repulsive spectacle that you can’t take your eyes off
Fargeat takes no prisoners. She already did this in the extremely bloody Revenge, in which perfectly formed bodies are completely destroyed against the backdrop of a rough desert environment. For The Substance, she leans even more into the satirical elements of the story and creates a movie that will make you gasp loudly with every further contortion. Did that really just happen?
While Demi Moore transforms into a movie monster, The Substance settles scores with beauty ideals and double standards. The studio head smacks his lips and is the real creep. Elisabeth is locked in a dark room where no one can see her. Sue succumbs to the intoxication of the flawless surface. The fronts are clearly defined and remain rigid for a long time. The film is not as ambivalent as hoped.
Nevertheless, it has incredible power because Fargeat comes across primarily as a filmmaker interested in striking images, which she uses to maximum effect. The eeriness of David Lynch, the disturbing nature of David Cronenberg, the strictness of Stanley Kubrick: many strong influences come together here, drawing us deeper and deeper into the abysmal depths of Los Angeles.
The Substance catapults itself into the disgusting body horror Olympus with an incredible monster creature
Beyond the well-known role models, The Substance also connects to another dialogue, namely the one that Jordan Peele initiated two years ago with Nope. The sci-fi western asks as a blockbuster about the price of the spectacle – and Fargeat is also extremely interested in that. Elisabeth Sparkle is no longer a spectacle, but Sue is, which the film expresses in unnaturally glossy shots.
