The Substance- I’ve Avoided It This Long….But It is Time
Blindness is weird. Years ago, when I was sighted, I never could have made it through The Substance. I wasn’t a big gore fan, and this is one of the goriest films I’ve ever seen. But you’d be surprised what I can sit through now. I’ve seen so many films, which has really opened me up even more to the horror genre. Case in point, this year I finally tackled In The Mouth Of Madness. I watched In A Violent Nature. I have films in my top 25 that are definitively horror films, and this is one of them.
But I would not have been able to appreciate The Substance without the excellent audio description. This is one of the best tracks of the year, and to see that Mubi, who has a streamer that doesn’t support audio description, totally get this great of a track is amazing. This is a film that lives and dies in every frame by the visuals. It isn’t just the body horror, which I’m sure by now you’ve heard about. It’s listening to Harvey devour seafood like he’s never eaten in public before. it’s being able to capture a particularly stunning scene in which Demi Moore silently debates every potential flaw before going on a date. In a beautiful scene that really centers the entire movie, Moore, who has already made a dramatic decision to start this “substance”, because when she turned 50, the industry deemed her irrelevant, is at her most vulnerable as she desperately tries to hide all she perceives is wrong with her, only to reverse all those decisions in a moment of exasperated rage.
This is such a captivating film, from beginning to end, as it not just pushes the boundaries of what you’ll watch in a film, but as it finds a way to creatively show the struggle to remain youthful, and in an era of plastic surgery ubiquity, it reminds us of how Hollywood specifically treats women like Moore, of a certain age, by deciding she is no longer allowed to be sexy.
Moore, who has never been afraid to show all of herself, whether in film or on the cover of a magazine, is at her very best, perhaps because she relates to the material. Routinely denied the path to awards glory, despite accumulating a presence in Oscar winning films, she has largely been relegated to streaming and limited series, this year appearing in Feud and Landman. This is n actress with current Oscar buzz, a fresh Golden Globe nomination, and who has anchored films on her name in the past. Now, she’s part of an ensemble, She supports men,who at the same age as her, are still allowed to be leads. Beauty is a diffferent standard, and as Dennis Quaid inhales shrimp, remember that he continues to star in film after film. He still gets offered lead roles in movies like Reagan, The Long Game, and The Hill, but Moore is just the luckiest actress to have this land in her lap. So many great actresses would love the opportunity to have this attention, but most would not be so willing to go where she goes.
Moore is the revelation she has always been. Her decision to put herself front and center is so reminiscent of appearing naked and pregnant on the cover of a magazine in the 90’s. Moore has benefitted from being the young and hot actress on the block, but it is time now to recognize that Demi Moore, was, and still is, a fucking terrific actress.
The Substance is an experience. It isn’t for everyone, but it also should be. It is the lesson everyone needs, and I hope it gets the Oscar love it rightly deserves.
For more, check out my video.
