Mikes Film Talk

The 2024 body horror film The Substance is irony in one act. Sure there is more than just one act in this tour de force of vanity and selfishness but the irony only appears in the one act.

The final one.

This last act looks at the world of glamour and body horror. It then descends into outright farce.

the story

Elizabeth Sparkle is a star who has seen better days. The Substance uses some splendid montages with her star in the sidewalk to show passages and ravages of time. She is past her prime and reduced to doing fitness shows on television. *Think Jane Fonda in the 1980’s.*

Elizabeth is fired from the show she hosts because of sagging ratings. She discovers the substance and opts for a younger version of herself.

Things spiral out of control as her younger self takes over.

the main cast

Demi Moore – Elizabeth

Margaret Qualley – Sue

Dennis Quaid is Harvey

*Quick side note on Quaid: He seems to be in everything at the moment. Indeed, he was shooting a small film in my hometown this year. His visage in movies is memorable but that voice? He walked within one foot of me and I had no idea it was Quaid till he spoke.

In The Substance he chews scenery like the shrimp Harvey chomps; mouth open, with delightful aplomb. If he had a bit more screen time he could have stolen the film.*

Behind the Camera

Writer/Director Coralie Fargeat gives us a brilliant look at celebrity, vanity and a world of self absorbed performers. Fargeat, who gave us Revenge, (The delightfully gorier version of video nasty I Spit on Your Grave.) knows how horror works.

Whether she is delivering slasher type “empowerment horror” or wonderfully and darkly comic body horror, Fargeat delivers.

Dumplings

The Substance owes a bit, I think, to Fruit Chan’s film Dumplings. Dumplings is about an aging actress, who has retired from the business and worries about her sagging visage and increasing wrinkles. She also suspects her rich husband is cheating with a much younger woman.

She is sent to “Aunty Mae.” (Mae is played by Bai Ling and she is a delight here. This may well be her ultimate role.) The dumplings in question here are made from fetuses. The main character Mrs Li (Miriam Chin-Wah Yeung) may be repulsed at first, but later she grows accustomed to this abomination.

Her devotion to the cure leads to her destruction.

Dumplings originally appears in Three Extremes. A collection of short films by three different Asian masters of horror. Chan then remade the movie as a feature length treat.

In both Fargeat’s and Chan’s films, vanity and an inability to move on results in catastrophic results.

Suspension of disbelief

The Substance requires an enormous amount of disbelief to succeed. Demi Moore’s well aged appearance and lack of sag does not convince completely here. Qualley, who was great in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is all pert and petite self centeredness. Her character Sue never feels like the “You” referred to by Fred.

This is, perhaps, the most telling trait of Elizabeth’s own personality and drive. In other words: For that unbelievable amount of vanity and focus of self to be in Sue; Elizabeth, the original, must have possessed those “qualities” in spades.

The final ironic act in the film requires that we believe an audience would not react in immediate horror to the final version of “You.” That may not be too difficult as Hollywood is full of folks who are more focused upon their needs and world.

Besides, who needs to notice visible monsters when so many hidden ones are already part of Tinsel Town’s population?

The Verdict

I have to regrettably give The Substance a wavering 4 stars out of 5. Dumplings, for me at any rate, was far more horrifying and believable. This darkly comedic horror treat would have benefitted from Demi looking older from the start.

And a little more Dennis Quaid.

The Substance is streaming on MUBI at the moment. Despite my wavering score, it is a real treat. There are moments that will make you shudder. Go check it out and see what you think.

The trailer