I just came back from seeing Demi Moore's and Margaret Qualey new movie The Substance and have a lot lot to say about it. I was looking forward to seeing the movie because I'm a huge fan of thrillers and body horror and if you saw the trailer to this it was clearly they had both. I'm going to try not to spoil the movie too much but ultimately I would recommend you watching it because it is a legitimately good movie on the technical size and it it is full of incel like themes that you can dissect to your heart's content. So either come back once you saw the movie or you can still read the review if you want to hear my take on it before you see it.
For those who haven't seen the trailer, the premise is that a aging actress played by Demi Moore, who was a hit richard simmons-esque dance fitness TV icon is soon going to be replaced by a younger actress who has more sex appeal. Disrupt by the information Demi's character is informed by a nurse she sees after getting into a minor traffic accident, that there is a a drug she can take that can turn her into a beautiful young woman again. Well at first apprehensive to this idea she soon decides to try this drug and the plot unfolds from there.
This movie goes into some crazy places, but at the same time it's pretty blunt with its messaging. The themes about how society treats Asian women as lesser than when compared to their youthful counterparts is very obvious, however, it's done with suction, energetic and passionate Force Dad that I didn't really mind it. Dennis Quaid, The major higher up at Demi Moore's Network, is at first glance a typical misogynist and sleazy Hollywood exec type that you see in plenty of movies, but his performance in this is so unhinged and exaggerated that you can't help but be entertained. While Demi Moore's in the male bathroom, since the female bathroom was out of order, she hears him in one of the stores yelling to one of the other corporate execs about how women are effectively meaningless at 50 and that women start to lose their fertility after 25 (which is true). He yells about how tits and ass are the only thing that matters on a woman and that the younger the better. He's an obvious caricature but his performance is so moving and inspired that I can't help but smile.
When it comes to performances in general I would say everyone did their absolute best here. Demi Moore plays a very realistic older Stacy type who is regretful about losing her beauty. She's a career-oriented woman who has no husband or kids in the film. + It's supposed to be seen as somewhat of the ideal. She sees her beauty as the only thing that matters + is extremely desperate to get that back. Margaret qualey is also fantastic in this movie as Denny's youthful counterpart that she turns into when she takes the drug. At facial acting and physical acting and you really do feel that they're one character even though they are over 20 years apart. (Side note: the movie is about how young women are an extremely prize commodity in the entertainment industry. Yet, the actress who plays the young version of the main character is about to turn 30 in October. It doesn't affect the movie in anyway since Margaret qualey looks way younger than 30 and it's extremely beautiful for someone who's about to hit the wall, but it's just something that I've noticed in)
I also like the rules to the drug which is eponymously called The Substance. How it works is that you inject this drug into you which creates a second person that is born from your body. Think about it almost as cells dividing in a way. And then this new person you wake up as has to give your old body a intravenous food source that will only last 7 days. Once those 7 days are up, you have to switch back into your old body and give the same food source back to your new body. You get one week off in one week on essentially. This gives a really great ticking time aspect to the movie since the main character has to keep in mind that she can only remain pretty and youthful for a certain duration and has to run back to make sure that she doesn't overstay her welcome since there are severe consequences when going over the 7-Day limit. But I don't want to spoil all the really interesting and fucked up surprises that happened once she does. Let's just say this movie is gory as hell so keep that in mind if you're a bit squeamish.
On the topic of incel themes there's a lot to discuss. As mentioned before, Demi's character never had a husband or child and once she has the opportunity to become beautiful and desirable again, all she does is use her beauty to attain more notoriety through becoming one of the most hottest fitness instructors on television and partying and getting fucked by Chads. There's never a thought of wanting a true romantic relationship or settling down and having a family. She only cares about the most materialistic shit, like Fame, Fortune and hookups. This is modern Western woman to a t and surprisingly enough to some degree. The movie actually chastises her for this. She suffers through only chasing shallow level elements of society throughout the movie. During one hookup with a young Chad, she is forced to turn back into her old self and bumps into the same shag she slept with who now is completely dismissive of her since she's an almost 50 something old Haggard woman. This saddens her + she decides to call up a older beta male she met earlier in the movie to get some drinks. He happily reciprocates her feelings and they decide to go on a date. However, she is so vain and so frivolous that she cannot deal with the idea of going outside. Looking the way she does and completely blows the guy off. He's never heard from again in the movie and I definitely feel like that character is symbolic of all subfive men. We're essentially just backup plans for any Stacy who can't get Chad's dick.
In closing if I had to give a rating for this movie it would be a 9 out of 10 with a verdict of go. See it if you can't. In a way it's kind of like if the Barbie movie wasn't made by a complete man-hitting feminist and actually had some death to it. There's a lot I left out since I think it would be more impactful if you just saw it with as little information as possible, but I definitely would attest at this film had there you go artistic qualities and it's a certified Kino film
For those who haven't seen the trailer, the premise is that a aging actress played by Demi Moore, who was a hit richard simmons-esque dance fitness TV icon is soon going to be replaced by a younger actress who has more sex appeal. Disrupt by the information Demi's character is informed by a nurse she sees after getting into a minor traffic accident, that there is a a drug she can take that can turn her into a beautiful young woman again. Well at first apprehensive to this idea she soon decides to try this drug and the plot unfolds from there.
This movie goes into some crazy places, but at the same time it's pretty blunt with its messaging. The themes about how society treats Asian women as lesser than when compared to their youthful counterparts is very obvious, however, it's done with suction, energetic and passionate Force Dad that I didn't really mind it. Dennis Quaid, The major higher up at Demi Moore's Network, is at first glance a typical misogynist and sleazy Hollywood exec type that you see in plenty of movies, but his performance in this is so unhinged and exaggerated that you can't help but be entertained. While Demi Moore's in the male bathroom, since the female bathroom was out of order, she hears him in one of the stores yelling to one of the other corporate execs about how women are effectively meaningless at 50 and that women start to lose their fertility after 25 (which is true). He yells about how tits and ass are the only thing that matters on a woman and that the younger the better. He's an obvious caricature but his performance is so moving and inspired that I can't help but smile.
When it comes to performances in general I would say everyone did their absolute best here. Demi Moore plays a very realistic older Stacy type who is regretful about losing her beauty. She's a career-oriented woman who has no husband or kids in the film. + It's supposed to be seen as somewhat of the ideal. She sees her beauty as the only thing that matters + is extremely desperate to get that back. Margaret qualey is also fantastic in this movie as Denny's youthful counterpart that she turns into when she takes the drug. At facial acting and physical acting and you really do feel that they're one character even though they are over 20 years apart. (Side note: the movie is about how young women are an extremely prize commodity in the entertainment industry. Yet, the actress who plays the young version of the main character is about to turn 30 in October. It doesn't affect the movie in anyway since Margaret qualey looks way younger than 30 and it's extremely beautiful for someone who's about to hit the wall, but it's just something that I've noticed in)
I also like the rules to the drug which is eponymously called The Substance. How it works is that you inject this drug into you which creates a second person that is born from your body. Think about it almost as cells dividing in a way. And then this new person you wake up as has to give your old body a intravenous food source that will only last 7 days. Once those 7 days are up, you have to switch back into your old body and give the same food source back to your new body. You get one week off in one week on essentially. This gives a really great ticking time aspect to the movie since the main character has to keep in mind that she can only remain pretty and youthful for a certain duration and has to run back to make sure that she doesn't overstay her welcome since there are severe consequences when going over the 7-Day limit. But I don't want to spoil all the really interesting and fucked up surprises that happened once she does. Let's just say this movie is gory as hell so keep that in mind if you're a bit squeamish.
On the topic of incel themes there's a lot to discuss. As mentioned before, Demi's character never had a husband or child and once she has the opportunity to become beautiful and desirable again, all she does is use her beauty to attain more notoriety through becoming one of the most hottest fitness instructors on television and partying and getting fucked by Chads. There's never a thought of wanting a true romantic relationship or settling down and having a family. She only cares about the most materialistic shit, like Fame, Fortune and hookups. This is modern Western woman to a t and surprisingly enough to some degree. The movie actually chastises her for this. She suffers through only chasing shallow level elements of society throughout the movie. During one hookup with a young Chad, she is forced to turn back into her old self and bumps into the same shag she slept with who now is completely dismissive of her since she's an almost 50 something old Haggard woman. This saddens her + she decides to call up a older beta male she met earlier in the movie to get some drinks. He happily reciprocates her feelings and they decide to go on a date. However, she is so vain and so frivolous that she cannot deal with the idea of going outside. Looking the way she does and completely blows the guy off. He's never heard from again in the movie and I definitely feel like that character is symbolic of all subfive men. We're essentially just backup plans for any Stacy who can't get Chad's dick.
In closing if I had to give a rating for this movie it would be a 9 out of 10 with a verdict of go. See it if you can't. In a way it's kind of like if the Barbie movie wasn't made by a complete man-hitting feminist and actually had some death to it. There's a lot I left out since I think it would be more impactful if you just saw it with as little information as possible, but I definitely would attest at this film had there you go artistic qualities and it's a certified Kino film
