Okay, real quick before I start chatting about the movie. I (obviously) have a to-do list, and on that list, there’s a “to-watch” section. 📝👀 That specific list is made up of recommendations from others, or maybe I read about a movie in a book, or whatever. 📚🤷♀️ It’s not a super long list, but still! I hadn’t looked at it in ages, and since I just got out of the hospital, this was the perfect moment to dive in. 🏥🛋️
So, on that list was ‘The Substance’—and honestly, it didn’t ring a bell at all. But when we turned on the projector, boom, right there on the home screen recommendations was EXACTLY this movie! 📽️✨
Coincidence? I think not! 🤔🔮
And oh my god, what a bizarre movie this is. 🤯 This is literally the most bizarre movie I have EVER seen. For a second, it felt like it was turning into a straight-up horror flick, but… yeah, I’m almost speechless. 🙊
And I am genuinely wondering how on earth this movie ended up on my To-Watch list…
my boyfriend and I were honestly left totally speechless for a moment. 🥶💬
The story follows Elisabeth Sparkle, a former Hollywood star who is now in her fifties and hosts a super successful TV aerobics show. 🤸♀️📺 But on her birthday, she gets brutally fired by her disgusting boss, purely because she’s deemed “too old.” 🤬🚫
Desperate and filled with self-hate, Elisabeth comes into contact with a mysterious black-market product: The Substance. 🤫💉 This is an injectable serum that replicates cells and creates a “younger, more beautiful, and more perfect” version of yourself. ✨ However, there is one hardcore, unbreakable rule: you must switch control between your old and new self every seven days. No exceptions. 🗓️⚠️
Of course, things go downhill fast when her younger alter ego (Sue) gets more and more popular and refuses to play by the rules, leading to terrifying, bizarre, and extremely bloody physical consequences. 🩸😱👹
What I really took away from it in terms of meaning is: it is never enough. I think this is a perfect reflection of how (many) people can be. They always want more, better, prettier, sexier… and keeping that in mind definitely makes you look at the movie differently. 🧐🌐
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of funny moments too! Let’s be clear about that. The ending gets insanely bloody, but it’s so over-the-top that it actually becomes funny again… it’s kind of hard to explain! 🩸🤪💥
⭐ The Cast ⭐
Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle: This role is being praised worldwide as one of the best (and most intense) acting performances of her entire career! 🌟👑
Margaret Qualley as Sue: The young, energetic, and highly sexualized clone of Elisabeth. 🔋✨
Dennis Quaid as Harvey: Your typical male TV producer—loud, obnoxious, and sexist. 👔🤮
🎬 The movie was written, directed, and co-produced by French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat. 🇫🇷🎬 She previously made waves in the horror genre with her brutal revenge thriller Revenge (2017). 🩸🔪
With The Substance, she won the award for Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival, among others! 🏆👏
Fun fact: This movie premiered on May 19, 2024. 🗓️✨
My Final Verdict… Honestly, I’m not really sure if I would recommend it or not 😅🤣 It was definitely interesting, and the acting was incredibly good across the board. But it also low-key made me a little worried about the director’s mental state, if you know what I mean! 😝🧠💥
Thanks for reading, and let me know what you thought of it! 🩷💬
