‘The Substance’ Makes Liam’s List!
After being kicked off her TV network by Harvey (Dennis Quaid), a cartoonishly evil and misogynistic network executive, Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) takes a black-market drug with cell-replicating capabilities to create a younger, better, version of herself in Coralie Fargeat’s new movie, “The Substance.”
In our Botox, Ozempic, and Brazilian Butt Lift day and age, it was only a matter of time before a movie like The Substance came out. As an exercise in disturbing practical effects, the film hits it out of the park, but when speaking more on its themes of patriarchal beauty standards and extreme self-makeovers, it a tad flat.
Elizabeth’s “other half,” Sue (Margaret Qualley), takes over as the star on Elizabeth’s old show. In short order, the show goes from your mom’s Jazzercise VHS session to full-blown pornography. The amount of nudity in this film works in the way of making you laugh at society’s – specifically men’s – way of viewing a woman’s body. However, it is excessive. This movie comes in at a whopping 2 hours and 20 minutes, and plot beats that needed more development were dropped in favor of butts viewed with a fisheye lens and body horror shock.
Do not be fooled, I love body horror and over-the-top comedy. In fact, those are my favorite parts of the movie, but eventually The Substance’s shock value wears off and the horror and gags become repetitive, which leads to a craving for more character moments.
For instance, there is a scene where Elizabeth is fixing her makeup in a mirror for a date. She looks as amazing as ever, but her insecurities are crippling, and she’s unable to leave the house. This was one of the only scenes that tugged at my heartstrings, and it is immediately undercut with a cheap joke.
All and all, the movie still ends up being an enjoyable time, but not without a catch. It gets crazy, but not at a quick enough pace. There are great performances, for characters that all seem a little bit shallow. However, there’s shock, excitement, and awesome art direction; if you want a movie that will make you think “This is awesome, I’m going to barf!” then this is a movie for you.
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