Each of us is trying to escape time. As we age, our body loses its former efficiency. We try to mask newly found wrinkles and cover up gray hair. In a world filled with the pursuit of beauty, where youth is a value and a merchandise to be offered on the job market, we try to stay in the springtime of life as long as possible.
Despite this, we are aging.
But what if there was a substance that would allow us to reverse the process? How much would we be willing to sacrifice for its effect?
„…Younger, more beautiful, more perfect…”
That’s the question Coralie Fargaet’s latest work, “Substance”, asks.
The director, known for 2017’s “Revenge,” tells the story of faded Hollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle, who is trying to squeeze the last light from her dimming star. By chance, she comes across an advertisement for a mysterious “Substance”. The remedy makes her change into her younger form for seven days. The next week she has to stay in her “basic” one, so she can only use it every other week.
The desperate celebrity decides to order the product and test its effects. With this, the protagonist’s younger alter ego, Sue, is born.
Over time, of course, it becomes increasingly tempting to bend the rules in favor of a younger body. This begins to involve gruesome consequences for the main character’s natural form.
„…The Balance…”
Substance is mainly the author’s commentary on, mentioned above, pursuit of beauty. With the help of grotesque and science fiction motifs, she shows the problems plaguing show business. The director hits on the overuse of plastic surgery, excessive interference with one’s own body and the environment that generates complexes.
She also shows how TV shows have developed a cult of the body and draws attention to the sexualization and fetishization of it. She does this by using skimpy costumes and close-ups that attack us during the entire seance
To point out the problems raised, the director, as in her previous works, does not make compromises. There is very little subtlety in this film.
But is this a bad thing? No! Coralie skillfully and sensitively uses exaggeration, intense images and themes.
Substance is a film that draws from genre cinema, which Fragaet is clearly in love with. The director plays with camp, pulp, horror and brutality. The author combines frames very much inspired by Kubrick’s compositions with, associated with Cronenberg, body horror. She does this remarkably skillfully. She constantly juggles motifs and inspirations.
The film also handles tone very well, and balances between macabre, suspenseful horror and black comedy. This helps to take a breather from the film’s heavy and overwhelming subject matter. It all adds up to a highly enjoyable and engaging effect that keeps us stimulated and drawn to the screen the whole time.
„…You. Are. One…”
I mentioned Cronenberg. He should certainly be pointed out as the inspiration for the practical effects. The characterization related to the side effects of substance overuse is done amazingly. As a result, the film shines in the body horror aspects. Makeup and costumes disgust and horrify but at the same time drag you to the screen with their creativeness. They shine especially in close-ups and details. However, this will not be a pleasant sight for more sensitive viewers.
I personally, in this aspect, felt only a slight exaggeration in the film’s climactic scene. This one, although not bad, with its excessiveness seemed to me too intense and long and thus more boring. It lacked any moment of surprise for me.
As for the visual aspects, the film is simply gorgeous. The frames are really lovely, beautifully composed and lit. The vivid colors of the film make it seem as if the film is constantly vibrating. In addition, the frequent use of narrow lenses makes the film give the impression of coming out to us from the screen and denting us with the noise of working in show business.
„…You can’t escape from yourself.”
Coralie Fargaet also draws from Jekyll and Hyde. This is evident in the way the two main characters are portrayed, whose consciousnesses, as the film progresses, become increasingly disconnected. Along with this, Elisabeth and Sue’s goals and motivations begin to differ and contradict each other more and more, which generates a key conflict in the film. It very nicely highlights how the mistakes of youth can affect us later in life. Here we should praise the great performances of the main actresses: Demi Moore as Elisabeth and Margaret Qualley as Sue. Both of them brilliantly and with extraordinary acting subtlety played two versions of the same person.
The film keeps us in suspense until the last moments. Despite the fact that we see the coming “fall” of the protagonist, we are unable to dislike her. The author of the film skillfully injects us with empathy for the heroine, which does not let go until the end. After all, wouldn’t we do the same in her place?
ART HUB 
Leave a comment