Film Review: The Substance (2024)
Watched On: 9/28/2024
The Substance is by far the craziest thing I've seen this year. Incredibly uncomfortable, a movie that dares you to keep watching and does not care if you're glued to the screen or looking away. Wastes absolutely no time with talk of beauty standards, instead it confronts- no. Assaults you with bodies
Bodies.
Bodies.
and more bodies.
Demi Moore's body, Margaret Qualley's body, Dennis Quaid's face, old, young, etcetera.
It's got a Showgirls-esque quality that says "Oh? Sex sells, hollywood? You want some tna? Well here you go!" and then as you lose your appetite for popcorn, your wife is leaving the theater to go sit in the car, and the guy a few rows down starts throwing up, it says "What's wrong? Isn't this what you wanted?"
...Okay, so, no one threw up at my showing. There was barely anyone there, but I can only imagine seeing this with a packed theater. My wife did leave though. She did not appreciate the hypodermic needle ASMR early on.
I haven't seen too many of Cronenberg's movies, so I can't really make allusions to any other films, but the whole body horror thing is definitely intriguing to me. It's a whole different kind of horror movie. We aren't concerned with things jumping out at us here, no loud annoying musical stings to make your heart jump. We just have to watch this fading star grapple with her self-hatred and destroy her body for the sake of validation.
Recommendation: I don't think I could personally tell anyone to watch it. I lack the words and knowledge to tell anyone about cinematography and sound design, but both will definitely make you feel things. For me, this is something I'd put on with a trusted friend, the kind of person who I know will say "yes" to the question "Do you wanna see something fucked up?"
Awards!