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Andrew Kuchling

Last week I went to see THE SUBSTANCE – I can recommend it if you like unsettling body horror – think David Cronenberg territory.

Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a 50-year-old actress and fitness instructor who's just been fired from her show by her maniacal producer Harvey (Dennis Quaid).

Then she hears about the Substance, an electric-yellow compound that will unlock her more perfect self through vague DNA stuff. And it does, introducing Sue (Margaret Qualley) in an extended gory scene in which Sue hatches out of Elisabeth's body.

(1/4)

Sue gets seven days of consciousness, and then has to collapse into a coma while Elisabeth is awake for seven days. There are consequences to getting this wrong: Sue is just a few hours late switching back, and Elisabeth gets a necrotic finger. Then Sue decides she doesn't want to switch off, and doesn't switch for a long time indeed…

It's really a stunning movie to look at, with hyper-real colours, strange camera angles, and a pulsing techno soundtrack. (2/4)

Some random thoughts (these are spoilers, and most will only be meaningful if you've seen the film):

I didn't form a clear idea of how much Elisabeth and Sue knew about each other; a novel would have been much clearer about it. Elisabeth doesn't remember that Sue appeared on a late-night talk show. Sue only seems to know what Elisabeth did during her week of consciousness from looking at the aftermath ("she just spent it eating and watching TV!", Sue yells during a phone call with the Substance's tech support). In interviews she's done for the movie, Demi Moore notes that Sue could do anything she liked, yet Sue goes to Harvey, who so recently dropped Elisabeth. Does Sue remember Harvey, or is it just coincidence? Does Sue remember Elisabeth or her thoughts?

Applause for the sound designers, who made every incision, mutation, and injection a squelchily vivid experience.

(3/4)

Is it a minor joke that Elisabeth's fitness program seems like an actual fitness program – the exercises she's doing work on specific muscle groups – while Sue's is just attractive people thrusting sexily and occasionally telling the viewer to "pump it up!"?

This is another movie that has about four endings: I kept thinking that surely *this* will be the final image that cap off the film, and it just keeps going.

The actual final scene, where an oblivious cleaner mops up a bunch of goop that used to be a person, is very similar to the end of The Incredible Melting Man (MST3K episde #704). I did not expect a fancy French movie to swipe the ending of a 1970s B-movie.

(4/4)