Overview
A fading celebrity decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
The Substance Review: This is a Bold, Provocative Film That Gets Daring.
With notable blockbusters filling the year, The Substance becomes a one off, daring entry amongst cinematic releases. What makes this film special is that it has an unrelenting vision from a director who takes bold risks, treats societal issues head on and settles for a finale that demands attention from our mind and eyes. Its heavy handed messaging, and uneven pacing, may split audiences.
The Substance: Youth, Despair and Redemption. A story.
Elisabeth Sparkle (played by Demi Moore) once an adoring aerobics star, discarded by the entertainment industry once she turned 50 in this Substance. Reeling on that realization, she swiftly succumbs to the pull of her dream, “The Substance,” which grants Sue (portrayed by Margaret Qualley) — the other young woman with similar qualities, both physically and overall — her own wiser, stunning, same but different, womanhood. The price to be resurrected has steep hook: Elisabeth’s fixation on her younger self swells into a struggle of wills between herself and herself.
A Feast for the Eyes: The Substance – Visual Storytelling
The Substance also engages its audience with gorgeously designed visuals from the onset. This is emblematic of Elisabeth’s fading legacy as its second action, in which Elisabeth’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star is shown as opening scene. Caught in the no man’s land between here and there, a metaphor realised in extraordinary cinematography with her relevance slowly fading away and her star cracking, she is forgotten.
Elisabeth’s dark, sterile surroundings are contrasted with the vibrant, glamorous world of Sue, but mirrored as the site of contrasts age and beauty. Billboard shots of Sue — particularly striking — balance Elisabeth’s diminished reality against Sue’s larger than life quality. The central themes communicate through these visual choices.
Demi Moore Glistens in a Career-Savoring Role
The Substance is at the core Demi Moore’s powerhouse performance. Her Elisabeth is nuanced, vulnerable and despairing, but never overwhelming, through often subtle, sometimes obscured gestures and expressions. Moore’s Moore manages to capture that inner mod unknown, especially when she torments a woman who struggling with a sense of irrelevance.
There’s a magnetic performance from Margaret Qualley as Sue, whose confidence and menace is tempered by the fact she’s no longer young. Meanwhile, Dennis Quaid is enjoying being slimy as a sleazy studio executive and playing a character who represents what the film condemns.
Concerning Aging, Beauty, and what Society Requires of You.
Its ’commenting on society’s obsession with youth and beauty’ doesn’t shy away from its commentary. Sue represents the universal American female fear of aging and irrelevance, and Elisabeth is a reflection of that same fear, but with a twist. Men are shown to be – for the most part – lecherous caricatures, and the movie’s depiction of gender dynamics is much less subtle. On the one hand, this choice is simply the right one to do to reinforce the story’s feminist tones, but at other times, it goes into heavy handed area.
Strengths and Weaknesses: The Way that The Substance Shines and Fails
Strengths
Weaknesses
A Conclusion That Goes Beyond the Expected
Conclusion: Worth an Experiment Yocold
Not readily available for everyone, The Substance. Its brash style and polarizing themes require you to have an open mind and tolerate that messy, ambitious storytelling, but it’s usually worth it. It’s a must for those that appreciate risk taking films. Whether you love it or hate it, one thing is certain: you won’t forget it.
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