Mubi Monday: The Substance (2024)

Please note, in a slight change to the usual format, I have scheduled this review AHEAD of time. The Substance lands on MUBI on October 31st, making it a potentially perfect viewing choice for your Halloween evening.

As many people already know, The Substance is the second full feature from writer-director Coralie Fargeat (who made an impressive debut with Revenge back in 2017). It’s a hell of a move away from her first film, in terms of both content and the level of film-making on display, and I am pleased to say that it’s going to be battling near the top spot whenever I try to list my favourite films of the year.

Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a celebrity/fitness instructor who is about to be thrown onto the scrapheap by her shallow and selfish boss, Harvey (Dennis Quaid). Desperate to find a way to prolong her time in the spotlight, Elisabeth signs up to use The Substance, a material that leads to her birthing the younger and beautiful Sue (Margaret Qualley). All should be well if the two women remember that they are one, and abide by the rules. They have to switch every seven days, without fail, and properly schedule their ongoing dosage of materials to keep up the ruse.

A full-on body horror that isn’t for the squeamish, The Substance is also a pitch-black comedy and an unsubtle commentary on the horror of unrealistic beauty standards, the aging process, and the hunger people can have for celebrity status. Some musical and visual cues also remind viewers that this is sci-fi that could have easily been sub-titled An Innerspace Odyssey (or perhaps A Face Odyssey).

Fargeat moves through every main sequence with admirable precision, helping the 141-minute runtime fairly fly by with audio and visual choices that positively affect the energy levels and help maintain the momentum en route to a wonderfully delirious finale.

Moore and Qualley are both pretty flawless in their performances, the former required to closely inspect every perceived flaw in her physique and face while the latter gets to dazzle with the apparent knowledge of what lies ahead of her. The two feel believably sourced from the same genetic material, yet also separated by the years that can provide some wisdom and caution. Quaid is enjoyably monstrous in his role, filling up his few scenes with his big grin, fast negotiations, and a steady stream of bullshit for those he deems a lucrative enough proposition for his time.

There will be people who wish that this was handled with a lighter touch, but I think this is one walnut that deserves to be smashed with a sledgehammer. The consistently excellent special effects (seemingly largely practical, but with some good VFX work mixed in) help to make this an unforgettable, and scathing, commentary on a problem that isn't new, but has certainly been exacerbated by the proliferation of cameras, filters, and a constant need for new faces to turn into branded content. Unlike my own reflection in the mirror, wrinkles and lumps and bumps and all, I cannot find fault with this, and I wouldn't want to make any changes.

10/10

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Shudder Saturday: Revenge (2017)

Revenge is, in a number of ways, a standard thriller that has an appalling sexual assault on a young woman as the catalyst for the rest of the plot. But, in a number of important ways, it's also decidedly NOT like many others you could select.

Written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, things start with Richard (Kevin Janssens) and his younger lover (Jen, played by Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) being dropped off by helicopter at a remote house that will give them time together in peace. Well, that is the plan. They are soon joined by Richard's two friends, Stan and Dimitri, and one of the men decides that Jen should be available to him, despite what she may think about that. This sets off a chain of events that will, well, let's just say that things aren't going to end well for most of the main characters here.

Although it feels as if this couldn't possibly require the 108-minute runtime that it has, Revenge displays the plight of Jen in an unflinching way that allows viewers to see her strength develop without necessarily dwelling lasciviously on the trials that keep forcing her to grit her teeth and bear the pain she receives. There are moments here that will make you wince and flinch, including a downright brutal interface between a foot and a huge chunk of glass, but they're also satisfying. The title of the movie says it all, and the men are all completely deserving of the fate that Jen wants to deliver them.

Lutz is superb in the lead role, with her character developing in a way that feels based completely on a survival instinct kicking in, as opposed to any kind of hidden expertise that transforms her from victim to Sarah Connor by the halfway mark (a la the I Spit On Your Grave remake). The men, led by Janssens, but including the abuser and enabler, played by Guillaume Bouchède and Vincent Colombe, do a good job of being loathsome, and it's great to watch them grow more and more desperate as their situation worsens and they worry about their self-preservation.

Fargeat obviously puts a different spin on things, compared to a male director, and that is another plus point. We don't get too much background information on Jen, she's a typical young woman with typical plans for her life, as her entire character is about to be changed by this one major trauma, and the aftermath of it. The assault itself is filmed in a way that makes it clear what is happening without dwelling on anything that could be seen as exploitative, and it's only when the revenge starts to be executed that things become viscerally entertaining.

There are so many movies that you could choose to watch from the "rape revenge" subgenre, and yes it is a subgenre, but few of them are made with quite the same level of relative restraint and genuine interest in the character beyond showing them as a beauty to be broken and destroyed. If you have the stomach for it, this is a superior example, and that may be due in no small part to the fact that it is a woman at the helm, providing a different filter on the material.

8/10

You can buy the movie here.

Americans can buy it here.