Coralie Fargeat's intriguing and stylish body-horror update of the Dorian Gray story follows the diminishing fortunes of Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), an ageing actress/TV fitness guru in an age-conscious industry who seeks rejuvenation through a secretive treatment with very disturbing consequences. Clearly pitched somewhere between David Lynch and 80s David Cronenberg with a bit of Kubrick thrown in for good measure, its shiny sterile design provides an effective backdrop to the unpleasant transformative body-horror that the unwitting protagonist suffers, amplified by unnerving dramatic extreme close ups and an unflinching camera. Demi Moore truly shines in the lead role with a very open and fearless performance that mines the character's vulnerability and sadness to good effect, Dennis Quaid brings to life the unsavoury sleazy TV executive well and Margaret Qualley handles the character arc of Elisabeth's younger incarnation with great energy. At its heart the film has a somewhat simple idea, but the film makes salient points effectively regarding the ephemeral nature of the entertainment industry, gender inequality and the fetishistic superficial values of the modern world, provocative in both its exposure of issues and its treatment of the human body. but it also delivers on the squelchy body-horror front as well with a bloody large-scale Grand Guignol finale that would make Brian Yuzna proud, all of which makes The Substance a bold and interesting movie to watch.
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