The Substance, a magical drug that allows you to realize your perfect self. You are the matrix. Only one injection is required, with a daily stabilizing injection. Time is shared and switches every seven days. You have different bodies, but you are one. A balance must be maintained. These were the rules set in place from the beginning Coralie Farget Second grade features substance. Why doesn’t anyone want to be their ideal self? This body horror satire answers that question in an extremely gooey, gory film.
While time has been kind to the image of fading celebrity Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), the male gaze and capitalism do not. Her long-running morning aerobics show is canceled by her Dirty Dance producer Harvey, a hilarious and obnoxious man. Dennis Quaid). She drinks all night and is ignored by the increasingly younger crowd. For women in their fifties, there are not many choices in the entertainment industry. So when a nurse offers you a phone number promising a miracle drug that will unleash your perfect self, why not take it?
This is truly a Demi Moore movie. There are few actresses who, in their prime, were as focused on both their work and their actual bodies as Demi Moore was. Moore transforms those years of male gaze and dull thought fragments into expressions of pure self-loathing. It’s hard to think of another actress who could bring such believability to a role like this, a ubiquitous superstar fading into obscurity.
As her physical transformation begins, Moore displays anger and frustration that always seem to be lurking beneath her calm, polite exterior. Her deteriorating appearance only reflects the rotten interior that Moore brought to life. This is a show that has been bred a lifetime in the terrifying, unforgiving Hollywood machine.
However, the show would be nothing without the other half she plays. Margaret Howley. What substances release is sue. Like something out of a twisted Greek myth, this new version of Elizabeth emerges fully formed from Elizabeth’s back in a gooey sequence that foreshadows more to come. Sue becomes younger, more lively, everything society no longer sees in Elizabeth. She auditioned and easily became the star of the show, replacing Elizabeth.
Quarian proof She herself is once again open to the role, taking her natural liveliness in interesting directions. This time, she weaponizes it and becomes a monster hungry for fame and celebrity. She is a creature that feeds off the recognition that a perfect body gives her. If she must upset the balance that allows her to exist, she does so at her own risk.
What makes this movie so amazing is the fact that the two actresses, despite their very different personalities, work as a unit. Although they share little screen time, their performances are full of push and pull. While awake longer than she should be, Elizabeth becomes angry at her refusal to see the selfishness within herself.
As the laws of matter say, they are divided, but still one individual. These are two parts of a self-loathing person, one is the desire for fame and the other is pure rage and apathy. Materiality may create a perfect version of you, but ironically it can only perfect your existing flaws.
As the imbalance grows, so does the body horror and violence on display from writer-director Coralie Farget. This movie is truly one of the stupidest, most disgusting movies in recent years. The last thirty minutes are Guignol drama, with blood and body parts spurting everywhere.
Just as there was a push and pull between Elizabeth and Sue, there is a push and pull between high art and low art in the production process substance. Farget’s commentary on the commodification of the female body is high-art, but there’s also a low-art homage to 80s body horror films, e.g. flies, society, and reanimator. Unlike the battle between Elizabeth and Sue, “Fajit” maintains the balance of a great film. Simply put, substance is one of the best horror movies of the year.
“Material” is currently playing in theaters.
