The Substance might be one of the weirdest movies I have seen in a long time, not for the whole duration but for much of the end. After seeing the end, I had to check out this beauty in 4K for the full treatment, and it was worth it!
The first thing I will say is that if you are intrigued by this movie, buy it! I intentionally went in as blind as possible after watching half a trailer, and it was well worth experiencing the whole thing as it unfolds. So the best way to enjoy this movie for the first time is to not read any light spoilers below and watch it.
So now on to light spoilers for those who are unconvinced yet. The movie follows Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, who is a famous actress running an aerobics TV show. She is aging and gets pushed out with little of a goodbye. She comes across a strange opportunity to try a drug that allows her to regain her youth. The kicker is the youthful person basically busts out of her back. In order to stay alive, she needs to switch between her old version and the young version on a regular basis; otherwise, bad things happen to her body. Her young version is loving life, though, as she progresses to gain Elisabeth’s old aerobics show and heaps more fame.
As the movie goes on, both of the versions want to spend more time in their bodies, and so they start to push the boundaries of how long they should stay in their bodies. This causes chaos to start going down, in ways I don’t want to explain, but fans of the game Inside will know what’s up.
The movie does a fantastic job of exploring themes around self-esteem and the impact of Hollywood on body image, and it is all brought together with fantastic acting from Demi Moore. It tells these themes more subtly with the over-the-top plot that walks that sweet line of being funny and absolutely chaotic at times. The whole movie is a fantastic watch with masterful craft from the writer and director Coralie Fargeat.
This 4K release comes with a short movie also made by Fargeat called Reality+. Reality+ is a 20-minute flick where people can have chips installed in them that let them choose an appearance, but that appearance only appears for people who also have the chip and only for certain amounts of time. It’s a great short story showing some people as they deal with the hours of a day; they can change their appearances and how they reckon with the time they can’t use.
The Substance is a fantastic movie that deserves to be enjoyed in glorious 4k. Added to this is the excellent addition of Reality+, making this a package well worth having on your shelf for many, many rewatches.
Horrifying, insightful, and funny. You need to see this movie!
