The Substance

The Substance wields its power not with the precision of a scalpel but a jackhammer.

This is a film unlike any other you will see right now. It will not be to everyone's taste. For this reviewer, who craves originality, it is a winner.

The last 20 or so minutes of this movie — the best part — is wall-to-wall, nonstop blood and gore, mostly done with those old-school practical effects fans like me prefer. The delightful yuck factor made me forgive the film’s numerous problems.

Deep within all the oozing spinal fluids and pustulant growths here, there’s a kernel of credibility: The Substance plunges us into the deranged, disorienting emotional carnage of menopause in a way that few other films have managed.

The Substance is a horrifically absurd exploration of Hollywood’s obsession with beauty.

Fargeat delivers a macabre, funny, tragic, absurd and grotesque Grand Guignol of butts and guts&#59; a bonkers and brutal “beauty horror” that elevates the genre to a hysterically unprecedented heights.



An instant body-horror classic! Demi Moore gives the most bold and fearless performance of her career in a film that takes an extreme & grotesque look at unattainable beauty standards. Coralie Fargeat now has my full attention for years to come.

The Substance is a humorously outlandish and disgusting film. Though the plot may lack surprises, there is no shortage of surprise in just how far the film is willing to take its inevitable conclusion.

It's the kind of movie that could only have been made by a woman, telling us a lot about the expectations society and show business have of women, and how they must stay young, vital and smiling forever. Full review in Spanish.

The Substance has been hailed as a feminist film that skewers the pressure women are put under to be cosmetically perfect. But for me, it misses that mark slightly and doesn’t feel like it’s adding anything groundbreaking to that discussion.