Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle in Coralie Fargeat's The Substance.
Coralie Fargeat emerged on the midnight madness scene when her feature film debut Revenge received its world premiere in the midnight madness programme in 2017 at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Revenge was a film of extremely violent violation towards the body. In this case, a mistress Jen (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) was brought along to a remote house on a “guys” hunting weekend. The wealthy predators view Jen as an object to be assaulted and then discarded. Jen survives and then sets out to pursue exactly what the film’s title states. Revenge. Jen changes the balance from victim to virulent vindicator. Fargeat’s debut is a portrait of vivid violence. Fargeat stated in interviews that the film had so much blood that the prop team would often run out of fake blood. Fargeat’s style as a filmmaker was already very much apparent in Revenge. The use of color to contrast. Jen’s fluorescent pink star earrings frame the dirty face of a person who has been to hell. Pink becomes a color of determination and strength. Revenge was also comprised of beautifully photographed shots.
Almost seven years to the day Coarlie Fargeat has returned to midnight madness at tiff with her second feature, The Substance. The film won the Best Screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival. Expectations for Miss. Fargeat’s sophomore film were high. This could be seen in the demand for tickets for the North American premiere. This was the first screening of the movie at tiff, preceding even a Press & Industry screening. A seat in the Royal Alexandria Theatre was running upwards of three hundred dollars. The demand could also and rightfully so be ascribed to Miss Fargeat’s leading actors, Demi Moore, and Margaret Qualley.
The first hint of what lied ahead for the midnight madness audience was the oversized pink headbands inscribed, “Pump It Up” that were given to people arriving at the cinema. Throughout the 1200 people in the audience - that all too familiar buzz of 600 hundred conversations happening at the same time - little pink dots could be made out in the sea of people.
The Substance continues Miss Fargeat’s themes of violence upon the body. Where Revenge was a paroxysm perpetrated by predators, The Substance is self-inflicted bodily harm in a society that craves self harm visited upon others.
The film begins with - what is already one of my favorite opening sequences in a movie. We see the creation of a star on Hollywood Boulevard. From workers installing the star, pouring concrete, and smoothing it out, to the star being placed and polished. People pass by the star and stop to take pictures, pause to look at it, and touch it lovingly. The years go by. Not kindly. Heavy foot traffic has taken its toll. People spill food onto the star. Some try to clean it half-assed. The years continue. Cracks begin to emerge. A perfect visual metaphor for the film.
Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle a television fitness personality. High energy. Once high ratings. Elisabeth overhears the show’s producer Harvey, played with obnoxious fury by Dennis Quaid stating that the show needs a younger lead and Elisabeth needs to be fired. The name of the producer is also not lost on anyone paying attention to monsters in Hollywood.
Clearly and rightfully distraught, Elisabeth drives away from the television studio. Out of nowhere tragedy strikes. It strikes sidelong into Elisabeth’s car when another car crashes into her car. Elisabeth is now sitting in a doctor’s office in one of those barely enough material temporary gowns. The doctor informs her she is fine and can leave. The doctor then leaves. A leering assistant approaches Elisabeth and says there is one last test. She incredulously sits as the assistant trails his hand up her very visible spinal column through the opening of the gown. He states that she is a perfect candidate and hands her a small envelope.
Elisabeth is now in the luxury house that years in the spotlight have afforded her. A giant portrait of a younger Elisabeth is hung on the wall opposite the giant windows overlooking Los Angeles. The painting is ever present reminding an older Elisabeth that she is aging. Alone, depressed, and replaying the conversation. Elisabeth opens the envelope to find a large black USB key with white letters stating The Substance. She inserts the key into the side of her television. The video begins with two eggs being fried in a pan. “Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect. One, single, injection unlocks your DNA. Starting a new cellular division. That will release another version of yourself. This is The Substance. You are the matrix. Everything comes from you. Everything is you. This is simply a better version of yourself. You just have to share. One week for one. One week for the other. A perfect balance. Seven days each. The one and only thing not to forget. You. Are. One. You cannot escape from yourself.” This is punctuated by a great sound from the movie’s sound design. A creepy near indescribable guttural sound.
The Substance promotion in Toronto. Photo by me and enhanced by me.
Elisabeth goes to a train wreck of a dinner with Harvey watching him consume shrimp with a wildly gross abandon. He informs her she is done. She goes to the studio where he delightfully greets Elisabeth and shoves a banker’s box into her arms.
Now back at home. The painting is still young, Elisabeth is older by another day and calls the number. The voice from the video answers. She informs the voice that she is interested in The Substance. Elisabeth is given an address. She goes to it and retrieves a key card. 503. She then proceeds to an alleyway and enters, quite comically into a stark white room with numerous numbers. She approaches box 503. The box opens to reveal a large box. Once back at home, Elisabeth opens the box to reveal three other boxes. She opens them to reveal needles, bottles, tubes, and instructions for use. She then goes to a large stark white-titled bathroom and inserts the needle filled with a green substance. What follows is a pure midnight movie.
Miss Fargeat is a student of the horror genre. There are numerous references throughout the movie, Both intentional and perceived by me. Much like another French extreme film that opened the 2023 Midnight Madness programme, Titane. Both films are direct descendants of the early work of David Cronenberg. I also saw Odes to Re-Animator, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Society, and Tarantino. Even with all of these nods to other films and filmmakers, Although the DNA of The Substance is influenced by other horror cinema, the majority of The Substance’s adenine and thymine are wholly a unique stylized look at the themes of aging, identity, and self-harm.
Moore and Qualley are incredible playing off one another. If lesser known actors had been cast in these roles what would follow in all likelihood under the vision and direction of Miss Fargeat would be still an insane midnight move. With Moore and Qualley, The Substance is poised for major mainstream audience appeal. The Toronto International Film Festival has been a proverbial launching ground for Academy Award buzz. Perchance Oscar (tm) will recognize the work of two actors very much steeped in a horror film? I think so. Demi Moore has said in interviews that the first time she read the script, “...this could either be amazing or it can be a fucking disaster.” I can attest that The Substance is fucking amazing.
