IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched in the cinema (144th visit in 2024)
"The Substance" is an extreme film - in terms of the colors, the effects, the make-up, the greasiness and the moments of shock. On an extreme scale of 1 to 10, French director and screenwriter Coralie Fargeat easily achieves a 12 here, before choking it all up to a 20 in the finale - in the truest sense of the word. But first things first.
After the first scene, which really is the cream of the crop, we see how a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame loses more and more of its shine over the years and a good portion of ketchup falls on it. The star belongs to Elizabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore in a sensational performance, and the ketchup is not exactly subtle foreshadowing that more red will soon grace the silver screen. If you've seen Fargeat's "Revenge", this should come as no surprise.
Fargeat generally doesn't give a damn about subtlety - and not just because Dennis Quaid plays a producer called Harvey. Everything here is exaggerated, from the story to the staging. Yorgos Lanthimos often uses fisheye cameras, there are overhead shots and close-ups galore (including of dancing women like in the music video for Eric Prydz' "Call on me"), the color contrasts are almost painful to the eyes and the sound design is so over-the-top that a mixer suddenly sounds like a chainsaw. The techno score also vibrates right into your body - which fits in perfectly with the body horror story.
Fargeat is thus positioning herself as a serious successor to John Carpenter ("The Thing") and David Cronenberg. A position that is often also attributed to Julia Ducournau. However, while in films such as "The Fly" and "Titane" there is still some love shining through, in "The Substance" sheer hatred dominates - especially the self-hatred that drives Moore's Elizabeth and makes her make a devil's pact.
At 140 minutes, the movie may be a little long, but thanks to clever montages, the story develops an admirable trait. What's more, the curiosity keeps you watching. You want to know to what extremes Fargeat will take the whole thing. Despite all the nasty body contortions and other disgusting effects, the movie is also very funny. Obviously not only De Palma's "Carrie" and Kubrick's "The Shining" served as inspiration, but also splatter films such as "Re-Animator" and "Braindead". "The Substance" is deviant, but also very absurd, as Fargeat consistently pulls off her fresh scenario with relish and satirical jabs at the youth craze and the film and TV industry.
Anyone with a stomach and a sense of humor in the black will love this horror pearl. Whenever the audience has an "Oh, no!" anticipation of what is to come, a laughing director can be heard with an "Oh, yes!". As a blatant, increasingly escalating nightmare, "The Substance" is an unparalleled experience.
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