Film Friday: "The Substance," Has a Lot to Say and Says it Viscerally

"The Substance," is an incredibly dark comedy/satire that fits comfortably in the horror mold, too. It doesn't have any jump scares, but it is loaded with gross imagery that folk would describe as, "Extreme body horror," between retching at the more extreme moments towards the end. This is a movie loaded with metaphors as an aging actress named Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is introduced to a way to split her time between her current body and a younger self that goes by Sue (Margaret Qualley). Elizabeth's obsession with looking young via a different body is a big neon sign that's flashing, "This is symbolism for plastic surgery/botox/etc," and even if the metaphors are heavy-handed, they still pack a punch thanks to how great Moore and Qualley are as a Jekyll and Hyde of sorts.

Elizabeth is mostly dismissed as old news, a forgotten actress who has turned 50--with such a number suddenly stopping Hollywood's interest in her. From being let go by an employer (a delightfully sleazy Dennis Quaid) to her Hollywood star literally falling into shambles (I told you the symbolism was heavy), she feels dismissed by the World. Then, the opportunity arises to try, "The Substance," and as long as she respects the balance of being her regular self and her new self, everything will theoretically be fine. Yeah, it all quickly goes awry.

In the same manner that we often start out with ,"Just a little touch-up," or, "A smidgen of Botox," it all goes swimmingly at first for Elizabeth and Sue, but soon the body horror really gets kicked into gear as despite being told, "You are one," by all the paperwork for, "The Substance," and a mysterious hotline, Elizabeth and Sue are two halves that despise one another for varying reasons. It all leads into an insanely over-the-top final 20 minutes with a literal flesh-monster of sorts and what I imagine were hundreds of gallons of fake blood that splurts everywhere. Does, "The Substance," need to get as extreme as it does towards the end? The internet has argued about that a lot, with some folk adoring this movie and others saying it is gross and hamfisted in any declarations it wants to get across. I, personally, quite enjoyed, "The Substance," overall, and I think I understand that going as far as it possibly can in its content and visuals is the point--people go to extremes to look younger, after all. Even if the message is delivered as violently as possible with little subtext, at least the message gets out there! Between its commentary, visuals, and amazing acting, I'd rate, "The Substance," as...

5 out of 5 Stars.