The Substance (2024)
Country: US/FR
Technical: col/2.39:1 141m
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
Synopsis:
A fitness celebrity is introduced to a rejuvenation drug after a traffic accident, one which produces a youthful avatar and needs renewing every seven days. However, the avatar gets greedy for life, with horrific consequences.
Review:
John Frankenheimer's Seconds did the same thing for men half a century ago, contriving more frissons in the process than any amount of body horror, of which there is an abundance here. The film is an indictment of image culture that points an accusing finger at men while asking its courageous stars to submit themselves to the same appraising gaze. Overlong and overdone, it at least has something to say (it was made in France), and includes references to Requiem for a Dream, The Shining, Brian Yuzna's Society and Carrie, to amuse cinephiles. (See Blog for a fuller assessment.)
Country: US/FR
Technical: col/2.39:1 141m
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
Synopsis:
A fitness celebrity is introduced to a rejuvenation drug after a traffic accident, one which produces a youthful avatar and needs renewing every seven days. However, the avatar gets greedy for life, with horrific consequences.
Review:
John Frankenheimer's Seconds did the same thing for men half a century ago, contriving more frissons in the process than any amount of body horror, of which there is an abundance here. The film is an indictment of image culture that points an accusing finger at men while asking its courageous stars to submit themselves to the same appraising gaze. Overlong and overdone, it at least has something to say (it was made in France), and includes references to Requiem for a Dream, The Shining, Brian Yuzna's Society and Carrie, to amuse cinephiles. (See Blog for a fuller assessment.)
Country: US/FR
Technical: col/2.39:1 141m
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
Synopsis:
A fitness celebrity is introduced to a rejuvenation drug after a traffic accident, one which produces a youthful avatar and needs renewing every seven days. However, the avatar gets greedy for life, with horrific consequences.
Review:
John Frankenheimer's Seconds did the same thing for men half a century ago, contriving more frissons in the process than any amount of body horror, of which there is an abundance here. The film is an indictment of image culture that points an accusing finger at men while asking its courageous stars to submit themselves to the same appraising gaze. Overlong and overdone, it at least has something to say (it was made in France), and includes references to Requiem for a Dream, The Shining, Brian Yuzna's Society and Carrie, to amuse cinephiles. (See Blog for a fuller assessment.)