Wednesday, September 25, 2024
The Substance
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) was an Academy Award winner & now a TV aerobics fitness show celebrity (think Jane Fonda workouts). But on her 50th birthday, she gets fired because her boss (Dennis Quaid) wants to replace her with someone younger. After a car accident, doctors tell her that she is ok, but she finds a note & flash drive secretly placed in her pocket. This new information promises her an enhanced more youthful version of herself to solve her dilemma, but there are strict rules to be followed. Of course, she can’t resist & takes the bait. What could go wrong? Well, this is a satirical body horror story where we can expect lots to go horribly wrong. The film is shot very stylish contrasting beauty versus ugliness. This film is not for the squeamish. There is blood & guts as well as long needle syringes. There is also gratuitous nudity scenes during transformations & showers; breasts, backsides, & full frontal. Margaret Qualley plays Sue, the younger enhanced version. These two are suppose to follow the rules & keep the balance between them sharing equally their time & fluids. However, when one becomes greedy, things take a turn for the worst. I️ was enjoying the storyline guessing where things might be going, but near the end, the film seemed to go off the rails & over the top. Images of those cheap 50’s horror flicks from my childhood flashed back before my eyes. This one was a bit too dark & bizarre for me.
Alien gives it 2 “503, Activator, Stabilizer, Switch” stars out of 4.
