Demi Moore’s body horror hit The substance turned one of Hollywood’s most widespread and controversial genres on its head. Moore plays Elisabeth, an elderly actress turned fitness star fired from her show by her executive, who wants a younger host. Elisabeth soon discovers a mysterious Hollywood secret known as The substancewhich allows her to exchange her body for a younger one for seven days straight. However, your younger body wants to stay on longer. Although none of the characters The substance are heroic, Elisabeth’s struggles are relatable, even when the Substance turns her into a literal monster.
The substance It’s bloody and tragic, and Demi Moore’s performance has already been praised by critics. The substance“approach”vain woman“The archetype has also attracted positive attention. Although the struggle of women like Elisabeth has been portrayed on screen for decades, films often focus on the character’s vanity rather than her humanity. The substance is about ageism, but it offers a deeper dive than many previous films that feature elderly women as a central plot point. They have often been so controversial that they have become a genre in their own right.
Demi Moore’s The Substance has a controversial genre
Substance delves into an unfairly represented character type
The substance focuses on the desperation of a previously glamorous woman to prevent aging, and characters like this have been around for decades – even centuries. This controversial genre, which presents the aging of women as particularly scary or funny, is known as “witchcraft exploitation.” The Evil Queen in Snow White is an early example, straddling the fine line between fairy tale and horror. Films like What happened to Baby Jane and X casts vain and elderly women as villains, while comedies like Death becomes her make them look ridiculous. However, The substance makes Elisabeth a sympathetic and touching character and delves deeper into the exploration of witches.
Although some reviews have criticized The substance due to it being a hagsploitation film due to its subject matter alone, The substance It’s more of a social commentary with body horror. Hagsploitation tends to present women’s fear of aging as pure vanity, while The substance shows the reasons why a person might take desperate measures to avoid it. Elisabeth loses her job due to her age and regularly faces misogyny, ageism and objectification. This is an understandable experience for many women, which may explain why The substancethe reviews are so good and the film has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The substance that makes the beauty industry and Hollywood the villain is a smart move
Elisabeth may have embraced aging if not for the fact that aging resulted in the loss of her livelihood and self-esteem. This happens to a lot of women, but Hollywood actresses face an added layer of tabloid scrutiny. By understanding this and representing Elisabeth’s internal struggle, The substance made Hollywood and the beauty industry the real villains. This was a smart move, as it provides an accurate look at why characters like Elisabeth are desperate to stay young. While The substance ends tragically, Elisabeth and her alter ego first have a moment of defiance as she attends a ball in her monstrous form.
The substanceThe disgusting shrimp scene is the perfect visual metaphor for the film’s genre shift. Elisabeth meets her rude and misogynistic executive, Harvey, played by Dennis Quaid, for lunch. Harvey messily eats shrimp while firing Elisabeth, who is worried about her weight, and who won’t eat anything. This scene has nothing The substanceThe characteristic body horror of but it’s an excellent representation of how Elisabeth must look young and beautiful at all times, while Harvey can get away with her revolting table manners. Moments like this make The substance a disturbingly memorable social commentary and much more than cheap exploitation.