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The Substance is , ironically , mostly trend with very little substance that is n’t there for the shock value or splanchnic response .
Article Summary
The Substanceis billed as a horror film , though nothing about it is shivery or specially suggestive of the musical genre . It feels like it has more in common with theBlood Diner1980s " campy revulsion " genre than it does anything modern , which could be a right thing . That said , it might have behoovedThe Substanceto lean more into psychological horror and trust less on " arrant - out " manoeuvre in respect to both gore and intellectual nourishment .
For starters , this is a French film . The style , tempo , actual mechanism , and story are told in a Greco-Roman French cinema style , which comes as no surprise given that it ’s aCoralie Fargeatfilm . However , theredoes palpate like a moment of a disconnect between the strong French cinema style and the level of Hollywood , which get hold of some of the bite away from the point the film is trying to make .
The Substance’scentral content is that Hollywood and the media industry glorify youth and conceit over everything else . For a film that clocks in at nearly two and a half minute , it postulate to say more or say what it ’s saying in more of a dynamic path . It feels very heavily - handed , and the point of " Hollywood discard you once you hit an age limit " was already hammered home in the first 20 minutes . It feels about an hour and a half too long , and even then , for a plastic film that lack subtlety , it feels like a slog to view .
The SubstanceIs All Style And No Substance
The characters ' motivations often sense completely unmotivated and split up from any sense of logic , especially Sue ( Margaret Qualley ) , who appears to have zero discernible personality beyond being young , hot , and selfish . Conversely , Elisabeth ’s ( Demi Moore ) word-painting for the most part revolve around moon about about not being considered untested and hot anymore and fall behind her show , which feels out of touch in the age of " make your own medium , " particularly for an established wizard like her . It ’s conventionalize to specifically not show where it ’s set in nor modern engineering , which could forgive the mental attitude if it were set 15 year ago , but even then , it learn poorly for mod audience . The " starlet aging out of Hollywood and into obscurity " narrative feels like it has n’t been relevant since the 1960s .
Art , movie house specially , is subjective and open to single interpretation ; however , The Substancehas so much possible to say more than it does : choices in your youthfulness are a lineal reflection of how you fare subsequently in living , a cautionary taradiddle about the dangers of the lure of Hollywood and renown , or even making a statement about depression and isolation . In a mode , all of these can be messages gleaned from the film , but none are what the picture is about or the principal message .
The Substanceclearly vilifies the male Hollywood executives and those who worship women for younker and scorn Elisabeth for aging , upholding the youthful beauty standard . It ’s a feminist take while somehow feel like it was made for the virile regard , though that style is very French . If this were toned down or charter out nearly entirely , the film would be potent – the manlike nurse who initially told Elisabeth about the Substance seemed more interesting of a character than anyone else in the moving-picture show , and even he was villain - coded .
What ’s most disheartening is that this film was " impossible " to make anywhere outside of France , especially in LA and Hollywood , the moving picture ’s only stage setting , to the stage that the city feels like a character in itself . At a time when productions are take flight from Southern California , leaving the diligence in Los Angeles a shell of what it once was , it feels tone - deaf , to say the least .
Overall , The Substanceis , ironically , mostly style with very piffling substance that is n’t there for the impact value or nonrational chemical reaction . There is little horror in the premiss , and the body horror was n’t particularly scarey , nor did it help to make the film ’s point in non - repetitive ways . The message feels dated , and the ending was the most " repugnance " part of the whole film , and even then , it can be read as camp , bordering on laughable .
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