The Substance Review

I saw The Substance, here are my thoughts…

The Substance tells the story of Demi Moore as Elizabeth Sparkles, a Hollywood starlet whose fame is fading after hitting 50… She is then informed of a substance that would create a younger, better version of herself. We then see what happens when she takes it…

This movie is like if David Cronenberg wanted to make a Twilight Zone episode in the style of Michael Bay.

The sound design is easily the best thing about this film. You hear every little creek, croak, moan, snap, crackle, pop, sounds you haven’t heard before. The sound mixers should get an Oscar or at least a nomination.

There are a lot of extreme close-ups, like there’s one scene with Dennis Quaid, it looks like he’s about to kiss the camera because we go right in his face. I went from Dylan to Dillon in that moment, “You’re too close man, you’re too close” lol. But that feels intentional by the filmmakers like they’re commenting on society's beauty standards, and how people are obsessed with people's looks and it’s always in your face with billboards and TV, so they like “OK, we’re literally gonna be in your face, look at all these pores and crevices”. Which I thought was kind of an interesting way to visually explain their theme, it definitely felt like something different.

Now I have not seen Demi Moore’s complete filmography, but her as Elizabeth Sparkles is easily one of her best performances. She has to portray a lot of intense and raw emotions, some unflattering, and do some wild things throughout that will make people uneasy, while also keeping you sympathetic to her she really put herself out there in a lot of ways and is successful at it. I hope she gets a lot of recognition and awards for the role.

Margaret Qualley plays Sue, and over the last year, I’ve been seeing this actress pop up again and again in these quirky indie films giving interesting performances, and it’s the same thing here. She has to play very bubbly and enticing, while at points hitting those same level of raw emotion that Demi is hitting. These two performances have to work well off each other, and, I think the two actresses play each other nicely.

Dennis Quaid gives a fun performance, it’s very over the top and scenery chewing. Dude was like a sleazy game show host mixed with Yosemite Sam at pints, but he was entertaining in a creepy cartoonish-ness sort of way.

I don’t know who does the voice for the substance commercial within the flick, but that guy got a cool, smooth voice. I had to check Wikipedia, just to make sure it wasn’t Stephen Blum (a famous voice actor, for people I don’t know)

There is a subtle “sterile 80’s beer commercials” to everything that adds to the tension in an uncomfortable and “this will not end well/monkey paw” kind of way. 

Some parts are definitely going to make you feel uncomfortable, whether it’s a performance by a character or a sound design or the visuals, but it’s for artistic merit, so it’s not just weird for weirdness's sake, there is a reason for it.

Unfortunately, I do think the movie runs a bit too long. If they had cut a half hour out of this, and made it a little tighter, it would be something really special. That being said,

it is hard to say what to cut exactly, but I do think it runs a tad too long and would’ve packed more punch if it was shorter by about 30 minutes.

The film has a lot of two things… nudity and body horror. Now that the first one is a mileage may vary situation. I will say 95% of it is not sexual, more of the character “just so happens” to be naked while performing tasks, and again they are leading to a parallel with it, but just be prepared to see a lot of skin in this movie. 

But that body horror… now it’s impressive throughout, and I would say while definitely significant, I don’t think it will drive away the general audience unless you just have a super aversion to that sort of thing… Until that ending. BOY oh boy, does this thing go full Troma or a Brian Yuzna nightmare with those effects. Some of you might not know what I’m talking about, but let me just say without giving anything away… I would not recommend eating during this movie, or else, you’ll be wondering if they sell Pepto-Bismol at concessions, even I squirmed in my seat at points… so beware.

You can tell the director (Coralie Fargeat) is very much influenced by Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch, certain shots feel very reminiscent or callbacks to shots from their work, which I only really noticed because I watch a lot of movies, so for regular viewers wouldn’t notice it. Sometimes it can feel a bit blatant with the reference, but with this movie… everything else is as blatant as a Mike Tyson knockout, so no harm or foul.

This movie explores themes of aging, how we view our bodies, self-worth, self-esteem, and what society places on beauty… for the most part I think they’re handled well. There are some points you wanna give Demi Moore’s character a smack on the forehead for making dumb decisions, but given what she’s going through and her feelings, you can see where she’s coming from, not necessarily agree but you understand it.

I also thought they made some interesting comparisons between the bodies' hotness and grossness. That both are extremes, yet people act extreme in two different ways, depending on which one, even though both are gratuitous… if you see the movie, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Interesting soundtrack, sometimes it’s very industrial, other part sound like you’re at a rave. 

This is a hard movie to recommend to people I don’t know if it’s for general audiences just because of some of the places it goes, this definitely isn’t a movie to watch with your parents. Now that being said, I do believe there is enough entertainment, interesting themes, and creativity, that if you are aware that you are going to see something strange and unusual, you might enjoy how out of the box it is. Just be aware you were going to be watching something that for better or worse, you’re gonna remember… then again, I watch all types of crazy movies, so what do I know? lol

Personally, I think I would give this movie, a low for stars… the entire cast gives strong and very impressive performances, it oozes creativity (figuratively and literally), and is unique, memorable, and re-watchable (although I might be a while, I need to detox lol). However, while I do really like the movie, I think I would’ve loved the film if it was 30 minutes shorter… I could see my opinion changing a watch, but will just have to wait and see ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️