Tag Archives: plastic surgery

Cinema, horror, MUBI, Reviews

Cinema Review: The Substance (2024) – A Dark Exploration of Identity

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THE SUBSTANCE (2024)

Directed by Coralie Fargeat

Written by Coralie Fargeat

Produced by: Coralie Fargeat, Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner

Main Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid

Cinematography by Benjamin Kracun

*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***

The Substance (2024), directed by Coralie Fargeat, is a visually striking and visceral film that pushes the boundaries of body horror and psychological terror. Fargeat, known for her raw and relentless style in Revenge (2017), once again delivers an unforgettable experience by weaving references to classic literature and horror cinema into a narrative that is at once familiar and entirely original.

Demi Moore portrays a former Hollywood star, Elizabeth Sparkle, now relegated to doing a mildy successful cable TV aerobics show. However, Dennis Quaid’s oily production executive is on the lookout for younger talent. Elizabeth soon finds herself on the media scrapheap. Desperate to regain her youth and career, Elizabeth is drawn to the hypnotic promise of a new product called ‘The Substance.’

Before you can say, “Dorian Gray”, Elizabeth is lured to a strange white room full of lockers and has committed to the process. Similar to Gremlins (1984), there are rules to follow. As she follows the steps and injects the potions, Elizabeth goes through a painful and incredibly impactful transformation process. She literally gives birth to a young and beautiful alter ego called, Sue (Margaret Qualley). Elizabeth and Sue then get seven days each to live their life before they have to swap back. What could go wrong?

The film’s core themes draw heavily from Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, exploring duality, identity, and the monstrous potential hidden within human nature. Like Stevenson’s tale of inner conflict, The Substance delves into the consequences of scientific ambition. It investigates moral transgression but with a modern, feminist twist. Fargeat’s use of body horror, particularly in the transformation sequences, echoes the grotesque, unsettling work of David Cronenberg. The nightmarish atmosphere and surreal visuals are reminiscent of David Lynch’s unsettling dream logic. This is notably seen in Eraserhead (1977) and Mulholland Drive (2001).

The film also pays homage to John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), with its transmogrifying frights, sense of creeping paranoia and rising conflict. But rather than a group of men fighting each other Elizabeth and Sue turn on each other over ownership of their physical existence and Hollywood status. The final act descends into hellish and bloody satire echoing Peter Jackson’s Braindead (1992), with gore galore. Moreover, Stanley Kubrick’s influence is palpable in the film’s meticulous framing, production design and tension-building. The climactic body-morphing scenes, however, most clearly nod to Brian Yuzna’s Society (1989), with its grotesque depictions of class and conformity, fused with Fargeat’s unique vision of female empowerment, revenge and resistance.

The Substance (2024) feels like a bigger budget film in look and style, but you soon realise the minimal number of sets used and a lack of crowd scenes, finds the narrative effectively becoming a two-hander in the middle act by focusing on Sue and Elizabeth’s internal retaliatory vindictiveness. There are some amazing framing, colour design and cinematographic choices as showers become tombs to trap the protagonists. The book-ended Hollywood star montage and returning final shots are imaginative and unforgettable. Got to say that Demi Moore, as an actress taking on a role of an aging and neurotic former star is genius casting. While Qualley delivers a sexually charged and energetic performance, it is Moore who carries the weight of the complex themes as Elizabeth’s journey dives deeper into the stuff of nightmares.

Overall, The Substance (2024) is a postmodern classic and a film that honors its influences while forging its own path. Fargeat uses these references to enrich the narrative, creating a damned ugly and beautiful satire on those seeking narcissistic perfection through unnatural means, ultimately paying the price of those seeking eternal youth and fame.

Mark: 9 out of 11

Cinema, Classic Film Reviews, Under-Rated Classics

UNDER-RATED CLASSICS #7 – SECONDS (1966)

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UNDER-RATED CLASSICS #7 – SECONDS (1966)

Directed by: John Frankenheimer

Produced by: Edward Lewis

Screenplay by: Lewis John Carlino – based on the novel, Seconds, by David Ely

Cast: Rock Hudson, Salome Jens, John Randolph, Richard Anderson, Will Geer, Karl Swenson, Jeff Corey etc.

Music by: Jerry Goldsmith

***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

So, I continue my articles on films which have perhaps fallen off the radar and deserve more recognition. The rules are simple. An under-rated classic can be a film I love, plus satisfy the following criteria:

  1. Must not have won an Oscar.
  2. Must not have won a BAFTA.
  3. Must not appear in the AFI Top 100 list.
  4. Must not appear in the IMDB Top 250 list.
  5. Must not appear in the BFI 100 Great British films.
  6. Must not appear in the all-time highest grossing movies of list.

Seconds (1966) is a science fiction drama which is very much of its time, but also truly relevant today. It deals with identity and lifestyle transplants. The film explores notions of escaping one’s everyday existence and living out one’s dreams through plastic surgery and scientific procedure. However, it also contains an important message, that whatever physical, social and personal changes you make there are no guarantees your life will be better. Perhaps, it is best to accept what you have and work with what nature gave you. Make positive changes to your mind and body, but know that there is no such thing as a quick fix.

The character of Arthur Hamilton (John Randolph) certainly finds this out to his cost in the narrative of Seconds (1966). His life is reasonably good, but he is dissatisfied with his job, and love for his wife has dissipated. He discovers an outfit called ‘The Company’ can, at a price, exchange his body and life, allowing him to be reborn a new man. After the procedure that man happens to be called Tony Wilson, who has the movie star looks of Rock Hudson. Hamilton/Wilson settles into a creative and hedonistic life by the beach. Yet, the sand is always softer on the other side. Soon, holes begin to show in Hamilton/Wilson’s new life.

Seconds (1966), is a psychologically eerie body-swap-sci-fi-horror film. It’s shot in crisp black and white by influential cinematographer, James Wong Howe, and contains some psychedelic visuals, weird angles, mirrored images, fish-eye lens shots, and images of actual rhinoplasty during the transformation sequence. Brilliantly directed by John Frankenheimer, it is also thematically very powerful. Aside from the dystopic warnings about plastic surgery, it also explores the nature of cults and closed communities. Rock Hudson gives a career best performance as Tony Wilson. His desperate and paranoiac scramblings in the second half of the film are painfully stressful as the character realises he has not only lost his identity, but possibly also his mind. Overall, it’s important to reiterate that organic change in itself is a positive thing, however, as Seconds (1966) demonstrates, there are no shortcuts to happiness or success.