Let’s start this annual Halloween blog-o-thon thing with a confession: nearly two weeks ago, I was certain that I wasn’t going to even bother with this year’s foray into the world of “October first time watches.” Without delving too much into my personal life, I have not exactly had the best 2024 so far. Jobless, hopeless, and (in all honesty) unmotivated to continue doing this, I just figured packing it up was the wisest alternative to typing out lengthy reviews of ANY pictures, regardless of whether they could be classified as horror or not. After all, I’m not a professional by any means. I’m just some random schmuck who watches movies and likes talking about them with other individuals.
Then I saw the movie I’m going to discuss today. Now, the
tentative list was given life again. Because the first entry of 2024’s “Unseen
Terror” isn’t just coming out swinging but has possibly thrust its way into my
favorite horror movies of this current decade.
The hype around writer/director Coralie Fargeat undeniable
talent and potential was exposed to the world with 2017’s “rape & revenge”
piece called…well, Revenge. It was an unrelenting, brutal, exciting, and
(perhaps most importantly) powerful picture that immediately shot the French
director into the discussion of “future masters.” It may have had some detractors
who thought it was perhaps a tad TOO bloody, but the potential for a strong,
lengthy career was undeniable. Seven years later, Fargeat has dropped her
sophomore effort, a body horror entry called The Substance, and cements
her status as a modern-day giant. The film stars acting great Demi Moore (Ghost,
A Few Good Men) as an aging actress named Elizabeth whose career has, to put
it lightly, not been in the best of places as it used to be. After a freak car
accident, someone slips her a note containing a USB drive and a piece of paper
that simply says, “It changed my life.” Once home, she is informed of a new,
experimental drug simply called “The Substance.” After some consideration, she
obtains and takes the drug. Like a self-replicating cell, it creates a new, younger
version of herself (played by Margaret Qualley of Poor Things and The
Leftovers fame). Now nicknaming herself “Sue,” she feels rejuvenated and
ready to reclaim the fame that she was losing. It comes with a price though;
follow the instructions that come with your package(s) and NEVER break the
rules written within.
That’s all that I want to give away about The Substance, because this picture goes in directions that nobody could ever expect it to. If Revenge was Fargeat’s twisted take on flicks of yesteryear such as early Wes Craven or Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, the director’s sophomore effort is an outrageous, jaw-dropping, satirical, and feminist take on the early efforts of David Cronenberg and Brian Yuzna (with some splashes of Ken Russell and Shinya Tsukamoto thrown in). There's a visual flair that isn't commonly seen in most horror flicks these days (unless you're willing to venture overseas) and is especially a rarity among products in wide releases. The color pallets throughout make you feel as though you're stuck in a fever dream, but when those colors dissipate, you're snapped back to a very cruel, ugly reality.
Underneath the much-discussed insane sequences
seen on screen, there’s some extremely effective messages on how society
fetishizes young women but tosses aside anyone considered “old.” Specifically, Hollywood
has always been guilty of this. Look at the actresses who came to prominence
during my time spent in high school. In some people’s eyes, they’d be viewed as
“old news,” which is utterly ridiculous and pretty goddamn sexist. Hell, I haven’t
even reached the age of forty yet, but some of the people from around my
generation are being told that unnecessary surgery is required in order to stay
“relevant” or are getting dropped by their jobs because “you aren’t the face we
want around here.” This mindset is present in Dennis Quaid’s character, who plays
Moore’s arrogant agent (and will never make you want to eat shrimp again in your
life), who is almost as slimy as another prominent human being he portrayed this year. Moore and Qualley’s character is the real standout though. No, that
isn’t a grammatical error, as it is reiterated several times throughout the
picture that they are one singular being. Moore gives perhaps the best
performance of her entire career, and I’m hoping that she gets some sort of
acknowledgement or award for committing to a project this bold and out of the
ordinary. Qualley also continues to prove that she has a damn fine future ahead of her,
and I admire the hell out of her commitment to choosing projects that don’t fit
the norm of what big studios consider to be “traditional.” Give both women the
accolades they deserve.
Movies like The Substance keep my love for horror and
cinema in general alive and well, and I must give special thanks to every
single person involved both on and off screen for crafting such a brilliant, beautifully
odd, and horrific look into a world filled with desperation and obsession (in
particular, whoever did the makeup and effects work deserves a raise). It
stands as not just my favorite entry in the genre for 2024, but one of my
favorite films PERIOD for the entire year. I’d say avoid the trailers and go in
blind, but surprisingly the trailers give away virtually nothing that you witness
in the finished film anyway. If you ever see or read this, thank you immensely Coralie.
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