I used to say I didn’t like horror. That’s nonsense, I love good horror. The question is, is this good horror? Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a Hollywood starlet who’s, lost her sparkle. This we learn from an amusingly inventive and stylish opening. In fact this is packed with surface level style, that’s sort of the point. Make no mistake though, this has plenty under the hood. Turning 50 and quite honestly looking fantastic, she’s lonely and being forced out of work by a patriarchal industry obsessed with youth. It’s vicious. An accident leads to an opportunity to regain her stardom, via The Substance. Is it an opportunity though, or the start of a living nightmare. The Substance will create a perfect younger version of you. One that you’re to share your time with. One week for you, one week for the copy that you’re tied to, until death you part. It’s all very Cronenbergian. Starkly shot in a hyperreal, sparsely populated world, little dialogue, just enough to guide us. Once signed up, Elizabeth receives her DIY box with instructions. You activate only once, you stabilise every day, you switch every seven days without exception. Remember you are one. It’s simple, but ominous. That’s a good summary, but it doesn’t pull any punches, it’s a body horror bonanza as Elizabeth activates and that’s only the beginning. The new Elizabeth isn’t a clone copy, she’s Sue (Margaret Qualley). Who seems instantly to know what to do, but then she knows what Elizabeth knows. They are one. There are a lot of needles involved and plenty of gore as the pair navigate 80s America dominated by creeps like Harvey (Dennis Quaid)… who’s also looking pretty great. I say pair, they’re not. You have to remember it’s the same consciousness in both bodies. Secretly living two lives in rotation. The obvious issue is all admin is on Elizabeth’s time, while the excitement is in Sue’s world of perfect bodies, having sex to a banging electro score. She’s told to “Respect the balance”, but the scales are already tipping. Qualley is great, Moore is great. They are one after all. Moore though, often without any dialogue, her role trapped in a prison of her making, portrays this psychological unravelling brilliantly. As balance goes out the window, Elizabeth finds herself having to face the horrifying consequences of her choices. For the faint hearted it is not. The pace is rapid, so much so that you’re left wondering what fresh hell is there left to endure. The make-up department must have had an absolute field day, the sound department too. The score is wonderfully menacing and the foley work is packed with all kinds of visceral squeltchiness. It’s a damning critique against ageism, not only in society, but in each of us, how we choose to deal with getting older. Addiction too, what we relate to a good time and what’s more important in life. Be careful what you wish for. It’s not perfect, but it’s a very interesting premise, brilliantly executed right through to its gripping finale of pure nightmare fuel. Is it a good horror? No, it’s a great horror.
7/10
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