It is no surprise that everyone has been feeling the pressure of beauty standards and the extreme focus of society on being young looking. However, Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” comes off as a slap in the face to those who lived in the unplugged age. It is a period when obesity surgery seems like the only option available for someone looking to lose weight. In contrast, social media these days has ads telling people to try a certain hair product and promising that they will enjoy the old version of themselves again. It is appealing, isn’t it? Though, that is about the only comparison one can draw between the GLP-1 anti obesity pills and the substance discussed elsewhere in the movie. But Fargeat, the writer and director of the movie, is able to portray the search for the miraculous “youth giving injection” as an exciting adventure filled with blood and neon lights.
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) was one of the most captivating actress of her time, but that time is over, much like her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Elizabeth’s job loss occurs during a fitness class she leads for a day time television show after an obnoxious executive named Harvey, (Dennis Quaid) cancels her program so they can put anyone “young” instead. Feeling the pain of being pushed aside because of her age, Elizabeth discovers a strange product called The Substance, which would produce a replica of herself who is young so that she can still be a part of the youth filled show biznes. But just like the little beasts into gremlins called The Substance, it turned out it had a particular set of rules: She must only use her younger version once, and her and her bouncy alter ego must never switch places except after seven days. They are supposedly supposed to be two persons who combine to function with one brain, whereas most of the things are self-evident to Elisabeth and her younger image Sue (Margaret Qualley) when they continue to take the substance, that in their hunger to look young there are always hidden costs.
As in a tale of Frankenstein and the monster he creates, Fargeat in his writing evokes pity to both Elisabeth and Sue’s characters, their hardship feels the same. The research on how to start over culminates, with the fact that there is no more a ‘first’ time, but rather shadowy issues arise instead.
In “The Substance,” Fargeat also mentions David Cronenberg’s extensive use of body horror in films such as ‘The Brood’ about a mad scientist who treats a pregnant woman with the horrible results, Stuart Gordon’s ‘Re-Animator’ that also includes neon green goo, substance, James Whale’s ‘The Invisible Man’ about a medical miracle gone wrong and Brian De Palma’s ‘Carrie’ in the method that it depicts a girl’s suffering through massive blood and destruction. There may have been an inclination to think that the use of Bernard Herrmann’s ‘Vertigo’ theme is somewhat inappropriate, but it is relevant in the context of the film and the obsession the film carries.
As with her taut and terse first feature film, “Revenge”, Fargeat again writes a rather compact and low cast dominated script. She pairs her on screen collaborators with a team behind the cameras that features equal talent that includes director of photography Benjamin Kracun, who takes the extravagant pink and blue tones of ‘Revenge’ and changes them into bright vivacious hues suitable for a movie set in Beverly Hills, costume designer Emmanuelle Youchnovski, who uses more vibrant colors and decorative materials to enhance the role of each character and composer Raffertie whose great reinforces the fact that the story is rushing through an endless traffic jam on the 405 freeway.
“The Substance”, although wrapped in horror aesthetics while scathingly ridiculing the entertainment business as well as the multibillionaire enterprises that thrive off people’s quest for the fountain of youth, manages to have so much fun doing it. With regards to every scene with the voice of Harvey, Fargeat and Kracun alternatively make use of fish-eye lenses or extreme close-ups to add more lack of taste and falsehood to his character’s action of cutting the Elizabeth’s show. The reality of the film is contributed by production designer Stanislas Reydellet: the TV studio with a corridor that is too long and the bright orange “Shining” carpet, and the pharmacy warehouse that Elizabeth goes to which is reminiscent of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
As Sue in the movie, Qualley is transformed into the girl-next-door with perky tits that wears tacky outfits that basically has too much skin and who also loves neon exercise gear, lip gloss, oversized earrings, and boys.
Whereas Elizabethв’s fitness show follows a how to do the workout theme, Sueв’s workout videos feature sue’s body because those are the parts her executives like harvey purchase and sell to the audience associating them with the love of youth and its non saggy skin. Quaid does not have a mustache, and I do not think it is important in his role as he has a hysterical laugh and no heart to wear Harvey’s garish suits. Depicted as a villain, he seems to love the part where he has to be cruel to women as he plays the very role many unethical women live in the industry. It is fair to say, this is arguably the most memorable performance by Quaid, but this is clearly not the best one in the film.
Moore has given a soaring and mesmerizing performance in ‘The Substance’ as a woman who deals with self-hatred, societal pressure and addiction to a magical drug. This is evident when she fights her reflection to find only the tiniest mascara-clad details on her face. Her appearance can be described as stunning, but upon looking in the mirror, a lost expression appears on her face because she sees more defects than detailing on her. Many of us could recall such instances where getting dressed for a party would require overdoing the accessories and lip color in order to look styled while desperately trying to hide our original selves with over-chucking rings and clothes. Elizabeth is so angry that she doesn’t like how she looks in pictures that she demonstrates her anger by removing the fakes. She’s aware of the overwhelming problems with image and beauty, and this world view will soon turn her life upside down. It’s one of those stories that one would warn you to watch in modern times, however, the substance of ‘Substance’ has been around for a while now, and there is more than one dimensional issues which this movie exposes as well.
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