In Coralie Fargeat's brand-new feminist horror film The Substance, harmful popular appeal requirements are actually the true beasts. They (women objectification, the disposal of "the old," the spreading of a sector built on physical body modification) supply a creature of a pattern that leads Demi Moore's fading TV individuality character Elisabeth Glimmer to choose a black market treatment contacted The Substance that vows to produce her more attractive. And also in doing this, she goes through a creature-feature-like transformation herself.
The Substance is actually a repulsive procedure-- one including syringes, liquids, and Elisabeth's back opening to birth a much younger double participated in by Margaret Qualley. Elisabeth and her version, referred to as Sue, may certainly not be actually conscious all at once, so they each live for a full week before switching over locations, along with Sue taking away liquid coming from a cavernous gap in Elisbeth's spinal column to receive herself. When Sue abuses The Substance, Elisabeth starts to age-- beginning along with one nightmarish, shabby finger before spreading into ancient, virtually worthless branches; and when Elisabeth resist by binge-eating, File a claim against breakdowns a lot to ensure she can easily take chicken wings away from her navel.
In accomplishing this, the film indicate Margaret Qualley in The Substance (2024) the fastidiously hideous sizes some will go to be worshiped as perfect. It's implemented to a suspenseful, life-like magnitude that creates a physical body horror film (blog post) for the ages.