THE SUBSTANCE
*****
Directed by Coralie Fargeat.
Starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid.
Horror, US/UK, 141 Minutes, Certificate 18.
Released in cinemas in the UK on 20th September by MUBI
Reviewed as part of Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024
Well, that’s certainly one way of bringing down the curtain on FrightFest’s twenty-fifth anniversary year! After winning rave reviews and the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival, Coralie Fargeat’s already eagerly anticipated follow-up to the incendiary REVENGE had an eager audience willing to see just what madness was in store for us. Judging by the shocked gasps and rapturous applause, often simultaneous, the decision to hold back this particular film until the very end of proceedings was a wise one as nothing else could really come close to the bloody, surreal and hysterical sights that Fargeat splashes across the screen in such entertainingly unhinged and lurid fashion.
In what is arguably a career best performance, Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, an actress and fitness instructor whose star has faded, both metaphorically and literally as her five-sided identifier on the Hollywood walk of fame has been subject to cracking, scuffing and other indignities that come with the passing of time, as witnessed in the films smart and succinct opening sequence. From here we see Elisabeth struggle with her career as she is judged on her looks and little else by her channel’s manager; a never more flamboyant and repulsive Dennis Quaid. As Elisabeth’s emotional crisis deepens, an unknown benefactor offers her The Substance; a mysterious self-applied treatment that unlocks “a younger and better version of yourself” for seven days at a time.
However, there are a set of rules that if not followed to the exact letter could cause problems. Never think of your other, younger self, or vice versa, as someone else being one of the most notable that starts to cause a rupture between Elisabeth and “Sue”, played by Margaret Qualley. When Sue’s immediate fame threatens to eclipse everything that Elisabeth has accomplished, the stage is set for a monstrous battle of egos that escalates quickly into something that is quite frankly astonishing. While Sue celebrates her immediate fame, Elisabeth struggles to reconcile her new bifurcated lifestyle with what she realises, perhaps too late, is truly important and the unintended consequences of The Substance reveal themselves in an increasingly horrific and nightmarish sequence of wildly, bizarre events.
Fans of REVENGE will already know that Fargeat can expertly meld eye-popping genre thrills with complex subject matter through a feminist lens that effortlessly entertains and rattles around your skull, lingering on its many provocations. While she never shied away from the effects of physical violence on the human body in her previous film, the combination of physical and mental violence is expertly realised here, resulting in some of the greatest, and most stomach turning, body horror not seen since Cronenberg in his celebrated heyday. The blood soaked final act tips over into full-on surrealism that not only has you wincing at but also applauding Fargeat’s iron-clad will to execute her no-holds-barred vision and Moore’s willingness to go along with it so fearlessly.
There is no doubt that this is Moore’s finest role yet. Always a likeable lead, particularly in her 90’s heyday, Moore effortlessly reminds you of how under-utilised she has been since then with this sympathetic character driven to desperate measures. Elisabeth’s sense of injustice soon spills over into rage in wickedly amusing fashion without tipping over into self-pity. The audience’s sympathy for her is soon amplified as Elisabeth confronts her monstrous inner/outer self. Margaret Qualley also impresses with her best work yet as Sue, the young starlet seduced by instant fame. Sue’s descent into full-on, self serving brat is wittily illustrated in a seductive, amusing style culminating in a grand guignol fashion as her own narrative butts heads with Elisabeth’s.
This is a wicked cinematic sucker-punch delivered through Fargeat’s visionary direction and the outstanding performances of Moore and Qualley. At two and a half hours it really is an unexpurgated personal vision. It may be too much for some, particularly in its exhaustive final stretch that really pushes the boundaries in a way that has not been seen for quite some time. Brave and bold, THE SUBSTANCE is surreal, satirical cinema that rattles the senses. It is doubtful you will see anything else that is as berserk and as touching as this for years to come.
Iain MacLeod
