The Substance (Coralie Fargeat, 2024, UK/France)

The Substance is the second feature film from French director Coralie Fargeat. Fargeat's film is exceptional not only for being a horror film that has managed to break into the awards season but also for being a particularly gruesome body horror film. While there is a savvy marketing team behind the film, one can't deny that Fargeat's vision is unique. Borrowing from myriad influences including Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch, and 80s splatter horror, The Substance is a Dorian Gray story for our modern age.

In a true meta-performance, Demi Moore plays an aging star who learns of an opportunity to create a younger version of herself. The only trick is that she must change back to her older self every other week. The mysterious figure behind the titular substance reinforces the notion that she and her double are one and the same. From the first minute of the film, we are quite aware that this film is not going to end well. At a structural level, the film is about as subtle as a hammer to the head. That being said, sometimes subtlety is overrated.

Depending on your taste, The Substance will either be stimulating or overkill. The film's intense visual style and pounding techno bear echoes of Gaspar Noe and the New French Extremity, and this will be overwhelming for some viewers. Yet despite its inevitable conclusion, the film does bear some surprises for patient viewers. The Substance is in many ways style over substance, yet it deserves accolades for its boldness, even if the end result is something familiar to us. Much of the attention around the film has been given to Demi Moore, and for good reason. Her performance, in its self-referential nature, is especially fearless. She deserves the accolades she is receiving. The Substance has proven to be a successful word-of-mouth phenomenon.

6/10