The Substance

A very very good movie, it has a great story of how as humans, we want to be a younger self and always stay relevant, cool and pretty. It’s a very good analogy of what length people will go to maintain their “beauty”, even if it means putting their life’s at risk. Just like with plastic surgery, we just want to cut corners and “hack” life and time itself.

Waste of two hours of my life, how an Oscar went for this is beyond belief.

The Substance is an audacious, grotesque horror film that delves deep into the psyche, blending body horror with a surreal narrative about societal obsession with perfection and youth. The film is unapologetically intense, offering visceral visuals and unsettling sound design that heighten its nightmarish atmosphere. Though its chaotic final act may be overwhelming, the film’s bold, provocative approach challenges expectations and provides a one-of-a-kind experience for those ready to confront its disturbing truths.

It was a god-awful movie. Near the top of the list of worst movies I've seen in my entire life. Interesting premise, but that's about it. Sucked eggs...

It wasn’t bad but it’s a bit overrated hopefully I’ll give it a rewatch in the future and hope it’s better then the 1st time.

The Nutty Professor meets Dorian Gray, poorly. Both stories handle body dismorphia and beauty standards and its impact on an individual's self-worth, the desire to fit in and to be accepted, driving the proganist to drastic measures by using unapproved and dangerous substances. In both stories, the main character is doing huge damage to their own life, in order to provide for a parasite that despises and antagonizes it's host. The difference is, one of the movies is self-aware. It does not intend to be anything else but light entertainment. The suspension of disbelief is granted because the storyline is not trying to be realistic in any sense. For the most part, it consists of overacting and simplified, irrational behaviour on part of the side characters in order to give the main actor more room. But the film always stays true to it's premise. It is advertised as a lighthearded comedy and is stringent in that. It does not take itself seriously at all. And most importantly, professor Klump has a clear motivation to keep the parasite going: approaching his love interest. And, although the narrrative is inconsistent, it seems that at least in the beginning he shares the same experiences and thoughts with his parasite, is able to live through him. In The Substance on the other hand, there is no motivation at all for the main character Elisabeth to keep going with this. Why would she keep on letting the parasite suck the remaining life out of her when apparently she has no connection to her feelings, doesn't see through her eyes, doesn't seem to have any benefit whatsoever from the situation. The substance starts off as serious movie. It has it's satirical moments at times, but mostly it is presenting itself as a suspenseful, pychologycal body-horror movie with a message. Adding to that is Demi Moore, approaching the role with a sort of seriousness and sadness that is captivating, yet doesn't match the overarching tone of the film at all. Almost all of the characters around her act as stereotypical parodies of what they are supposed to represent, i.e. the abusively creepy neighbour, the non-chalant, disgusting producer and his greedy investors, or the passersby that are hostile to anyone above 50. Most men are displayed as complete jerks, most women purely as sexual objects. Margaret Qualley plays along in the role of the parasite whose sole character trait is having the body of a young, attractive woman. While her portrayal of the character as shallow and enticing fits the narrative and overall tone, it just doesn't leave much of an impression. Only Dennis Quaid really shines here. Maybe he understood the sillyness of the story from the get go and just played along with it. He fills every scene with comedic energy and over-the-top acting that fits perfectly into the silly plot. Ah yes, and then there's what could be interpreted as an homage to Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. Only here, the picture stays the same while the character gets uglier and more misfigured with every scene, being the result of complete self-abuse. It conveys with the message that is hammered into the audience's ears all through the movie: "you can only be yourself. Your actions have consequences". Futher on the topic of homages, there's an obvious reference to Stephen King's Carrie in the very painful to watch final chapter of the story. The level of grotesque and stupidity of these concluding 20 minutes drags the film down from mediocre to outright terrible. So while on the surface The Nutty Professor and The Substance have nothing in common, they are both a similarly unrealistic and exaggerated critique of societal standards . But the former doesnt pretend to be anything else than lowbrow family entertainment with fart jokes, while the latter aims at something it fails to achieve, coming off as pretentious. One star for the amazing, innovative cinematography and Dennis Quaid as the disgusting producer. Zero stars for anything else.

I have watched thousands of movies, And while I can appreciate the message and satire, this movie was not worth my time. The actions of the characters was stupid. The pacing tedious, and just when I thought I couldn’t get worse, it turned into a bloodbath. Just no. The best thing I can say is that it was original and the makeup astounding. But Jesus! Just no!

1st half of the movie is really good. Cinematography, visual, vibe, makeup, sound design are great. But the ending dreaming scene is really threw me off :(

Wow, this movie really sucked. Plot holes, nonsensical elements that you can't even attribute to science fiction, incredibly superficial social commentary and overall just cheap and not particularly great horror. It baffles me that anyone would rate it more than a 2 or 3 other than for political or self gain reasons. Insane.

It escalates a bit...