A fading celebrity decides to use a black-market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

‘The Substance’ is one of the most talked about movies of the year, coming into cinemas fresh after winning the Best Screenplay prize at this year’s Cannes film festival amidst much critical acclaim. It is a satirical body horror movie about Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a celebrity who starts taking a black market pill that can purportedly make her younger, in response to her firing from a TV show on her fiftieth birthday. Directed by Coralie Fargeat, it is a movie that sets out to provide commentary on how female celebrities are often treated disposably as they get older, by both leering male studio executives and to a degree by themselves, as their greatest fears of being forgotten and fading away come to the fore. It doesn’t do any harm that the woman is played by Demi Moore, an actress who has struggled to sustain her 90s success as she has gone through her 50s, which adds a slightly meta tinge to proceedings.

In terms of the narrative, it focuses on Elizabeth’s decision to start taking the titular pill and how it impacts on her life. The attraction of the pill is that it temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself, but it comes with stringent conditions on its use with warnings of serious side effects should it be used improperly, and I’m sure you can guess that we’ll find out what these might be. The younger version of Elizabeth that is ‘born’ from her is played by Margaret Qualley, who takes on the name Sue and immediately takes over the type of roles that Elizabeth had been getting previously. Initially the two co-exist mostly harmoniously, with Sue and Elizabeth respecting the boundaries of the substance, but as time progresses Elizabeth starts to realise it isn’t improving her life as at the same time, Sue starts pushing the boundaries more and more of how long she can stay in this ‘body’, with gradually more horrifying consequences.

The performances are excellent from Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, with this undoubtedly being Moore’s best performance in years. I’ve not seen Coralie Fargeat’s debut feature ‘Revenge’ (although have heard it is great), but I was mostly impressed with her directorial choices here, with the flashy camera work and exaggerated shooting angles more reminiscent of a B-movie or even porn, in as much to emphasise the points it is making about female beauty standards. It’s making points about the female body and how woman are treated as they get older, but in some respects it’s quite broad and you could argue that it is actually doing the thing it pertains to be critiquing in how the camera ogles Moore and especially Qualley’s body over the course of the movie. I also felt that as there was shown to be little connection between the minds of Elizabeth and Sue, it undercuts the logic a little around why Elizabeth would take the pill in the first instance.

Thematically, the movie takes influence from a range of material, including previous movies that have pitted two women against one another such as ‘All About Eve’, fading Hollywood actresses (‘Sunset Boulevard’), and most obviously, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. It should be said I really liked this movie, admired the ambition and the performances, but at the same time I felt it could have done more with the premise and I don’t think it was quite as clever as it thinks it – not least in how Fargeat chooses to play out the final act. Regardless, it is always a thrill to see a movie that feels inventive, original and different from most of what is released in the cinemas, and that ‘The Substance’ is all three while also being incredibly entertaining with kinetic directing and top performances makes for a thrilling cinematic experience.

Rating: 4/5

Directed By: Coralie Fargeat

Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Gore Abrams, Robin Greer and Tom Morton

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt17526714/