STARRING: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid. Written, produced and directed by Coralie Fargeat. Budget $17.5 million. Running time 140 minutes.
On her 50th birthday, Elisabeth Sparkle the star of a TV fitness show is fired by the odious head of the TV studio, Harvey (Dennis Quaid) because she's too old, and ugly. Reeling from the shock, Elisabeth is hospitalised following a car accident and given a USB stick with an advert for something called The Substance, which offers her the chance for rebirth.
She takes the bait, and the drug is sent to her. Following an agonising delivery, through her spine, she gives birth to a younger, more beautiful version of herself, she transfers her essence into the new body and names herself Sue. The rules for The Substance are as simple to follow as those issued to the owners of a Mogwai. Elisabeth can only occupy the body of Sue for one week before returning to her own body for a subsequent week. It's that simple. Each week Sue must extract spinal fluid from the body of Elisabeth which she injects on a daily basis. Elisabeth/Sue is warned constantly that the two of them are one and not to forget it, or to take advantage of the week on week off rule.
Sue auditions as her own replacement for the fitness show and gets the gig becoming the next big thing and is loved and lauded by all. The trouble is, that one week just quite enough and Sue starts to push the limits leading to horrendous results.
This is a remarkable horror film, gory beyond belief, like a hardcore David Cronenberg film crossed with David Lynch with a healthy dose of Stanley Kubrick for good measure, think of it as a female-centric version of The Fly no less and you'd be in the same ballpark. The gore, for the most part achieved by practical effects are staggering, gross doesn't even begin to cover it, you'll see things you've never seen before, and the final act is an almost non-stop orgy of blood and gore which just keeps growing in outrageousness until a brilliant ending that perfectly bookends the film.
Demi Moore is extraordinary, delivering a performance that is powerful and fantastically raw, similarly, Margaret Qualley gives it her all as the beautiful younger version of herself, rounding off the cast is Dennis Quaid who delivers a performance so OTT it fits in perfectly with the rest of this extraordinary movie, bringing a level of sleaziness worthy of Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein combined.
She takes the bait, and the drug is sent to her. Following an agonising delivery, through her spine, she gives birth to a younger, more beautiful version of herself, she transfers her essence into the new body and names herself Sue. The rules for The Substance are as simple to follow as those issued to the owners of a Mogwai. Elisabeth can only occupy the body of Sue for one week before returning to her own body for a subsequent week. It's that simple. Each week Sue must extract spinal fluid from the body of Elisabeth which she injects on a daily basis. Elisabeth/Sue is warned constantly that the two of them are one and not to forget it, or to take advantage of the week on week off rule.
Sue auditions as her own replacement for the fitness show and gets the gig becoming the next big thing and is loved and lauded by all. The trouble is, that one week just quite enough and Sue starts to push the limits leading to horrendous results.
This is a remarkable horror film, gory beyond belief, like a hardcore David Cronenberg film crossed with David Lynch with a healthy dose of Stanley Kubrick for good measure, think of it as a female-centric version of The Fly no less and you'd be in the same ballpark. The gore, for the most part achieved by practical effects are staggering, gross doesn't even begin to cover it, you'll see things you've never seen before, and the final act is an almost non-stop orgy of blood and gore which just keeps growing in outrageousness until a brilliant ending that perfectly bookends the film.
Demi Moore is extraordinary, delivering a performance that is powerful and fantastically raw, similarly, Margaret Qualley gives it her all as the beautiful younger version of herself, rounding off the cast is Dennis Quaid who delivers a performance so OTT it fits in perfectly with the rest of this extraordinary movie, bringing a level of sleaziness worthy of Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein combined.
All of the male characters in this film are terrible, from the creepy horny next-door neighbour to the casting directors, to the assorted heads of various companies. The film has a strange detached feel and the look of a 1970s Cronenberg movie, the actors perform as if in a Lynch film and the styling reminds you of Kubrick.
Mixing a fantastic dose of humour into the horror is a brilliant move, and although this in no way could be considered a comedy, it still has some extremely funny black-humour. This film is French director Coralie Fargeat's second film and (rightly) won her the Best Screenplay award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Ultimately this film is about the fear of getting older and the contempt that society has for anyone who dares to get old, especially women, an idea that underlines my own work with Psycho Gran and I found myself enchanted, delighted and enthralled by this fantastic film. I loved every single gore soaked second and marvelled at the bravery of both Moore and Qualley and their performances.
An astonishing film that cannot be described and needs to be seen to be believed, just be warned it's the gorest film I've seen in absolute decades.
Mixing a fantastic dose of humour into the horror is a brilliant move, and although this in no way could be considered a comedy, it still has some extremely funny black-humour. This film is French director Coralie Fargeat's second film and (rightly) won her the Best Screenplay award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Ultimately this film is about the fear of getting older and the contempt that society has for anyone who dares to get old, especially women, an idea that underlines my own work with Psycho Gran and I found myself enchanted, delighted and enthralled by this fantastic film. I loved every single gore soaked second and marvelled at the bravery of both Moore and Qualley and their performances.
An astonishing film that cannot be described and needs to be seen to be believed, just be warned it's the gorest film I've seen in absolute decades.
10/10
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments, unless they're how to make money working from home, are gratefully received.