The Substance Review: Vile, Vicious Body Horror That Will Shock You To Your Core By Oh. My. God.
Many films have been described as “jaw-dropping” at one point or another. But rare movies have actually made my mouth hang agape for 30 minutes straight. That’s what you’re in for with , a body horror thriller from MUBI.
The film stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former movie star whose career has declined over the years. When she is fired from her TV aerobics job, she begins to take a substance that will create a younger, sexier version of herself so that she can reach the top once again. It’s a movie premise that’s so brilliant and lends itself so perfectly to horror that I wish I came up with it.
The Substance is absolutely brilliant. It’s a show-stopping examination of an industry that has been historically unkind to aging women, all told with impeccable style and ferocious horror. This film blew me away with its storytelling.
The opening shot is so simple and effective. It tells us everything we need to know about our main character without the camera moving at all. We quickly and efficiently learn how Elisabeth was once a wildly successful movie star who has faded from relevance.
Her stardom has deteriorated as she grew older, and with that, we have a character we can instantly sympathize with. Moore does a fantastic job of portraying this character. It feels as if there is a lot of personal experience she can bring to Elisabeth.
She was one of the bigge.