TIFF’s Midnight Madness program curates the oddballs, the weirdos, the scary, and the funny, and there is a reason why it led this year’s edition with Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance. The film displays some of the most disgusting things ever seen on screen and has enough heart to make this a very worthwhile romp through Hollywood misogyny, superficiality, and body horror.
Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former A-lister who is fired from her televised workout class on her 50th birthday by Dennis Quaid’s abhorrent Hollywood exec, aptly named Harvey. She turns to The Substance, a mysterious medicine that promises a younger version of you. That younger version is Margaret Qualley, playing Sue, a different side to Elisabeth.
Demi has tons to work with here as the body horror gets worse and worse. She goes from subtle moments of disgust and dealing with the Quaid-type characters to full monstrosity and crushes it the whole way through. Qualley’s performance is a quietly powerful one. She does well with the superficiality of the character and she finds a way to make it work without a ton of dialogue while still presenting a sharp edge. The only thing holding back their chemistry is that due to the dual nature of the role, the two leads don’t interact much.
It isn’t just the macabre body horror that carries this though. Fargeat’s world makes the mundane disgusting. Quaid eating is as sickening as any meal you’ve seen on film. His personality is just as gross. Close-ups of Qualley’s body reinforce the superficiality that the film is addressing. Fish-eye lenses can be jarring and they add to the discomfort of the watch. With all of this set-up, when the truly horrific arrives on screen, you’re primed to see it and it’s still repugnant.
Even Elisabeth’s pristine apartment, a major setting of the film, becomes a place of disgust as things move along. The production design calls back to major horror films like The Shining while managing to create its own horrific world too.
If you’re looking for jump scares or if you’re a little queasy, this isn’t the film for you. If you’re looking for a truly gruesome body horror that will make you a little afraid the next time you look in the mirror, check out The Substance, a superb addition to the body horror canon.
4/5
Review by: Kevin Jacobs