One of the flashier films coming out of this year’s Cannes Film Fest, and fresh off of winning the Midnight Madness audience award at this year’s TIFF, The Substance aims to bring body horror to a new generation. Midnight Madness veteran Coralie Fargeat, whose previous film Revenge also played the TIFF programming shingle, aims high with her second feature, packing the film with enough viscera and blood to support multiple films. But in the end, does the film overstay its welcome?
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a former Hollywood it-girl turned fitness maven, think Jane Fonda but with severe impostor syndrome. Her workout show still draws, but numbers have been declining, thus forcing studio executive Harvey (Dennis Quaid) to be on the lookout for a replacement. In a desperate attempt to reclaim her former glory, Elisabeth is introduced to The Substance, a black market drug that replicates a younger version of yourself, literally bursting out of your back. But The Substance comes with distinct and specific rules. Elisabeth and her younger counterpart, dubbed Sue (Margaret Qualley), must switch back every 7 days without exception, and at all times you must remember that the both versions are still the same person. Elisabeth is still in charge and thus both entities are forever linked to Elisabeth’s well being.
Sue of course makes a big splash, she has all the curves and appeal of a 20 something mixed with the experience of Elisabeth’s 50+ years. Immediately taking over Elisabeth’s empire, Sue starts to begrudge the change and almost immediately starts pushing the limit of her stay. When Elisabeth does come back the next time, her body shows visible deterioration from the offence. This builds a wedge of resentment between the 2 sides of her personality. Despite Sue imposing her will even more, and Elisabeth’s health starting to take more and more hits, Elisabeth’s overwhelming desire for fame does not allow her to end the experiment.
Dripping in social commentary, The Substance starts right in the audiences’ face and rarely lets up through the first hour of the film. With a fetishistic lens and extreme closeups on the bodies of our two leads, Fargeat seems to be literally daring her audience to live in the male gaze that has dominated the Hollywood atmosphere for decades. Some of the commentary on display here is perhaps a little too ‘on the nose’.
However, no one can say that Fargeat didn’t have a vision for what this film would be and stuck to that vision, fighting tooth and nail to achieve it. The biggest issue with the film is that it feels bloated. At a near 2 and a 1/2 hour runtime, The Substance has 3 clear spots that feel like endings, all before the actual ending. There is repetition and sequences that could easily be excised all together that would produce a more concise and perhaps even more potent film in the long run.
The final ending that we do get here is a straight homage to the Brian Yunza’s cult classic, Society, with a creation that looks like it came straight from the 1989 film. And while audiences unfamiliar with Society are more likely to revel in the last segments of this film, those who have seen it are doomed to compare both, and frankly Yunza does a better job with his deconstruction of class. Though the arterial spray that feels straight out of the climax of Peter Jackson’s Brain Dead was a fun touch. In fact, Fargeat doesn’t really hide her influences here at all, and if this drives filmmakers and audiences back to the original works of Yunza, Jackson or even Cronenberg then that alone would be a job well done.
But what does drive The Substance apart from other films of its ilk are two insanely raw and fierce lead performances from 2 actresses at the top of their craft. Demi Moore is the one of the two that has to endure the more ardent of transformations through the film, though one could argue that stripping herself bare and firmly standing defiantly in front of the camera is a feat of courage all its own. Moore plays Elisabeth as detached and in some ways even sterile, with an apartment that could be called minimalistic at best, Elisabeth starts with a carefully crafted persona. But as Elisabeth starts to unravel, Moore starts to infuse the character with a more insane energy and gleefully devolves along with her. At the end, Moore is at her unhinged best, an award worthy performance overall.
And while Moore may have the more showier of the roles, Qualley’s performance as Sue should not be underestimated or understated. Qualley herself portrays Sue as a living Barbie doll, but with a fierceness and determination that are barely contained looming in her eyes all the time. Qualley herself lays herself bare just as much as Moore and she is more than up to the task, allowing herself to match Moore’s unhinged energy with enough of her own that it becomes a knockout, dragged out fight between the pair.
The Substance really needed a stronger editor. Long, bloated and in your face, this film is likely to have as many detractors as it has champions. However, from a horror standpoint there is an impressive combination of practical and computer generated effects at work here and literal buckets of blood all over the screen. It says something that after nearly 2 weeks and numerous TIFF screenings later, some of the imagery that Fargeat has created is still stuck in my head. And while I may not have enjoyed everything I saw in this film, and I did check my watch multiple times, here I am still thinking about it.
"Kirk Haviland is an entertainment industry veteran of over 20 years- starting very young in the exhibition/retail sector before moving into criticism, writing with many websites through the years and ultimately into festival work dealing in programming/presenting and acquisitions. He works tirelessly in the world of Canadian Independent Genre Film - but is also a keen viewer of cinema from all corners of the globe (with a big soft spot for Asian cinema!)
Literally Fighting Yourself: Our Review of ‘The Substance’
One of the flashier films coming out of this year’s Cannes Film Fest, and fresh off of winning the Midnight Madness audience award at this year’s TIFF, The Substance aims to bring body horror to a new generation. Midnight Madness veteran Coralie Fargeat, whose previous film Revenge also played the TIFF programming shingle, aims high with her second feature, packing the film with enough viscera and blood to support multiple films. But in the end, does the film overstay its welcome?
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a former Hollywood it-girl turned fitness maven, think Jane Fonda but with severe impostor syndrome. Her workout show still draws, but numbers have been declining, thus forcing studio executive Harvey (Dennis Quaid) to be on the lookout for a replacement. In a desperate attempt to reclaim her former glory, Elisabeth is introduced to The Substance, a black market drug that replicates a younger version of yourself, literally bursting out of your back. But The Substance comes with distinct and specific rules. Elisabeth and her younger counterpart, dubbed Sue (Margaret Qualley), must switch back every 7 days without exception, and at all times you must remember that the both versions are still the same person. Elisabeth is still in charge and thus both entities are forever linked to Elisabeth’s well being.
Sue of course makes a big splash, she has all the curves and appeal of a 20 something mixed with the experience of Elisabeth’s 50+ years. Immediately taking over Elisabeth’s empire, Sue starts to begrudge the change and almost immediately starts pushing the limit of her stay. When Elisabeth does come back the next time, her body shows visible deterioration from the offence. This builds a wedge of resentment between the 2 sides of her personality. Despite Sue imposing her will even more, and Elisabeth’s health starting to take more and more hits, Elisabeth’s overwhelming desire for fame does not allow her to end the experiment.
Dripping in social commentary, The Substance starts right in the audiences’ face and rarely lets up through the first hour of the film. With a fetishistic lens and extreme closeups on the bodies of our two leads, Fargeat seems to be literally daring her audience to live in the male gaze that has dominated the Hollywood atmosphere for decades. Some of the commentary on display here is perhaps a little too ‘on the nose’.
However, no one can say that Fargeat didn’t have a vision for what this film would be and stuck to that vision, fighting tooth and nail to achieve it. The biggest issue with the film is that it feels bloated. At a near 2 and a 1/2 hour runtime, The Substance has 3 clear spots that feel like endings, all before the actual ending. There is repetition and sequences that could easily be excised all together that would produce a more concise and perhaps even more potent film in the long run.
The final ending that we do get here is a straight homage to the Brian Yunza’s cult classic, Society, with a creation that looks like it came straight from the 1989 film. And while audiences unfamiliar with Society are more likely to revel in the last segments of this film, those who have seen it are doomed to compare both, and frankly Yunza does a better job with his deconstruction of class. Though the arterial spray that feels straight out of the climax of Peter Jackson’s Brain Dead was a fun touch. In fact, Fargeat doesn’t really hide her influences here at all, and if this drives filmmakers and audiences back to the original works of Yunza, Jackson or even Cronenberg then that alone would be a job well done.
But what does drive The Substance apart from other films of its ilk are two insanely raw and fierce lead performances from 2 actresses at the top of their craft. Demi Moore is the one of the two that has to endure the more ardent of transformations through the film, though one could argue that stripping herself bare and firmly standing defiantly in front of the camera is a feat of courage all its own. Moore plays Elisabeth as detached and in some ways even sterile, with an apartment that could be called minimalistic at best, Elisabeth starts with a carefully crafted persona. But as Elisabeth starts to unravel, Moore starts to infuse the character with a more insane energy and gleefully devolves along with her. At the end, Moore is at her unhinged best, an award worthy performance overall.
And while Moore may have the more showier of the roles, Qualley’s performance as Sue should not be underestimated or understated. Qualley herself portrays Sue as a living Barbie doll, but with a fierceness and determination that are barely contained looming in her eyes all the time. Qualley herself lays herself bare just as much as Moore and she is more than up to the task, allowing herself to match Moore’s unhinged energy with enough of her own that it becomes a knockout, dragged out fight between the pair.
The Substance really needed a stronger editor. Long, bloated and in your face, this film is likely to have as many detractors as it has champions. However, from a horror standpoint there is an impressive combination of practical and computer generated effects at work here and literal buckets of blood all over the screen. It says something that after nearly 2 weeks and numerous TIFF screenings later, some of the imagery that Fargeat has created is still stuck in my head. And while I may not have enjoyed everything I saw in this film, and I did check my watch multiple times, here I am still thinking about it.