Having just been nominated for five Golden Globes, the waves triggered by Coralie Fargeat's 'The Substance' aren't diminishing any time soon. Euronews Culture sat down with the French director to discuss the film and the vital changes society needs to implement. There hasn’t been anything quite like in 2024.
Since its Cannes debut , where it won the Palme for Best Screenplay, the demented fairy tale by French writer-director Coralie Fargeat has captivated audiences worldwide. Starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, the gory parable about the fetishisation of bodies and youth – specifically how the ruthless Hollywood system discards female talent the second they’re deemed “past it” - has cemented Fargeat as one of cinema’s most promising and vital voices. Not that she wasn’t on discerning film lovers' radar already.
Her 2017 debut made quite the impression, in part because it was released several months after the #MeToo movement started. Mostly though, because it subverted the “male gaze” by focusing less on the violence done to the victim and flipped the usual misogynistic iconography into something fierce and engaged. doubles down and employs both body horror and sly comedy to create a timeless and timely satire unlike any other.
It skewers Hollywood’s sexism and widens its gaze to society as a whole, becoming a warped cautionary tale about the system pushing you to chase unrealistic standards and becoming your own worst enemy in the process. In , we ca.
