the substance – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

THE SUBSTANCE – Review by Susan Granger

September 17, 2024September 22, 2024 Susan Granger body horror, Coralie Fargeat, demi moore, Dennis Quaid, margaret qualley, the substance

‘Tis the season for horror movies, specifically body horror as Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley occupy the same body in The Substance. It’s been many years since Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) got her coveted Star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. She’s now an aging actress who has built an empire on her TV aerobics videos: Sparkle with Elizabeth. But then a smarmy, misogynistic executive, aptly named Harvey (Dennis Quaid), decides she’s too old, no longer attractive, and should be replaced by a perkier, prettier younger version. “After 50, it stops,” he tells her – in no uncertain terms.

Festivals Reviews

THE SUBSTANCE (TIFF 2024) – Review by Liz Braun

September 16, 2024September 15, 2024 Liz Braun body horror, Coralie Fargeat, demi moore, Dennis Quaid, margaret qualley, the substance, TIFF 2024

Body horror extravaganza The Substance is over-the-top gross-out fun and a true homage to the masters of the genre. Writer/director Coralie Fargeat takes no prisoners. The Substance is clever, entertaining and a monstrous amount of bloody, lurid, in-your-face fun. Whether women should shoulder quite so much of the blame for how society views them based on age and beauty is the question. The answer may be somewhere in all that patriarchy-inspired jockeying for position.

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT August 2024: CORALIE FARGEAT, Fiercely Feminist Filmmaker

July 29, 2024July 29, 2024 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas #metoo, cannes film festival, Coralie Fargeat, french films, horror, La Fémis, palme d'or, Revenge, the substance, TIFF

Coralie Fargeat is one of the most daring, exciting and innovative filmmakers working in the horror space today. Going back to the launch of the 5050×2020 campaign at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 that called for a then-goal of gender parity in the screen industries by 2020, Fargeat has long been actively involved in amplifying the role of women in film. She makes remarkable, zeitgeist-defining movies.