There hasn’t been anything quite like The Substance in 2024.
Since its Cannes debut earlier this year, where it won the Palme for Best Screenplay, the demented fairy tale by French writer-director Coralie Fargeat has captivated audiences worldwide.
Starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, the gory parable about the fetishisation of bodies and youth – specifically how the ruthless Hollywood system discards female talent the second they’re deemed “past it” - has cemented Fargeat as one of cinema’s most promising and vital voices.
Not that she wasn’t on discerning film lovers' radar already. Her 2017 debut Revenge made quite the impression, in part because it was released several months after the #MeToo movement started. Mostly though, because it subverted the “male gaze” by focusing less on the violence done to the victim and flipped the usual misogynistic iconography into something fierce and engaged.
The Substance doubles down and employs both body horror and sly comedy to create a timeless and timely satire unlike any other. It skewers Hollywood’s sexism and widens its gaze to society as a whole, becoming a warped cautionary tale about the system pushing you to chase unrealistic standards and becoming your own worst enemy in the process. In our review, we called it a “spine-cleaving triumph”, a “Very Freaky Friday that will melt your face.”
We stand by it.
The film has recently been nominated for five Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, and seven Critics’ Choice Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress.
There’s every chance that next year’s Oscars will follow suit - and we'll be cheering it on.
Euronews Culture had the pleasure of catching up with Coralie
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