The Substance is 2024's cinematic wet dream
Film review
In 2017, French horror director Coralie Fargeat took the dirty, grimy, old-school rape-revenge movies and delivered a slick and vivid modernised resurrection of the genre in her first feature Revenge. It was essentially a more sophisticated I Spit On Your Grave (1978), with an injection of style and a heightening of thrill that concluded in a highly satisfying bloody finale. Fargeat left a mark with her debut work, creating an anticipation of what would follow next. And rightly so.
A seven-year absence would follow before she returned to the scene debuting her next work, The Substance at Cannes Film Festival. If the anticipation wasn’t high enough for those who were left love-struck with Revenge, it was revealed that The Substance would see the return of Demi Moore in a major role on the big screen along with one of Hollywood’s hottest growing talents, Margaret Qualley. Revenge didn’t necessarily leave the expectation that Fargeat would progress so efficiently at climbing the ladder to secure this kind of on-screen talent. Still, it left an eyebrow-raising, more-than-pleasant surprise.
Attendees of Cannes widely criticised the first half of the festival as being amongst the weakest editions this year. The mood was light and relaxed. Not too much buzz or excitement was present in the commentary. At the midway point, things started to look up as Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez generated hope that there was more brilliance yet to come. The Substance would premiere shortly after, settling alight a flame of excitement that spread through the atmosphere, ensuring cinema was very much alive on the French Riviera.
The Substance follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore), an ageing Hollywood actress who receives an underground treatment that promises to deliver a better, beautiful-looking version of her current self as she struggles to maintain her career in the spotlight. I won’t go further into the details than this. The less said about the plot, the better. The Substance best thrives off the shocks it delivers from the unfolding events that hit you with a shotgun punch, hypnotising you fully into its thrilling ride.
Like what she did with rape-revenge, Fargeat takes on body horror as her new subject and slaps on a spanking clean, refreshing slick look that seems alien to the genre, vamping up the fun of the possibilities that one can go in the process. Fargeat’s visuals in her latest work are so sterile yet so messy. The mess is produced by all the right ingredients of what you would expect from a body horror flick that goes full-throttle. And that isn’t an exaggeration.
Fargeat takes the edges of what you think is possible in this journey and penetrates the imaginative boundaries you had of cinema, leaving you with your jaw descending onto the floor at the fearless, maddening state of creativity. Not many audacious works like this come along, the first since Julia Ducournau’s delightfully outrageous Palme d’Or winning film Titane (2021). Comparisons are inevitable, but you could argue that The Substance turns up the dial of madness a notch higher, resisting the need to take its foot off the gas pedal as Ducournau did in Titane’s pacing.
Fargeat doesn’t give you a break. Nor should you have one. That’s one of the great things about The Substance. It never stops. There’s no boredom to be had in its nearly 2-and-a-half-hour running time that goes by in a flash. Once it starts, you’re strapped in for the full ride, forgetting the existence of the world outside of the one you’re immersed in. That’s the experience that great cinema should deliver. And Fargeat is a master at it, rightly earning the award for best screenplay at Cannes.
The most effective way to experience The Substance is to go in with minimal knowledge and resist the temptation to view the trailers. Allow yourself to be surprised. Films like this don’t rear their heads frequently. Multiple viewings are unable to replicate the thrill of the first digestion. That’s the trouble with works that produce such an incredibly high adrenaline rush for the viewer. Over time, they don’t necessarily warrant the demand to be watched repeatedly as the main magic relies on first exposure.
That’s not to say The Substance doesn’t hold up as a fantastic film, it certainly is. On multiple viewings, you get to delve into and examine Fargeat’s mastery in filmmaking as she executes every frame with precision with an admirable care for detail. A bit like when you rewatch Titane, there’s fascination in examining how these directors were able to provoke such a vigorous reaction in that first viewing experience. Between Fargeat and Ducournau, there seems to be a battle of who can push the boundaries furthest in these recent standouts in the genre. It becomes difficult to imagine what's to come next from these two minds. However, it can safely be said that the best talent in horror is coming from France. That’s for sure.
Out in UK cinemas tomorrow.