I did not care for The Substance...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
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I don’t think that she ever pays for the substance or that her access to it is tied to class. The guy who brings her in who she meets again at the diner works as a nurse. I think it’s supposed to feel more fable, like in that it’s a force she doesn’t understand but bc of her class feels she hubristically feels she can control
It’s true we don’t see her pay or anything, but the privilege and cost of cosmetology is a huge aspect of celebrity image and one I think is worth considering in a story whose entire subject is celebrity image. Regarding the nurse, I kind of assumed he was in on the enterprise and this was some sort of commentary on medical exploitation of celebrities (eg the Kanye/nitrous situation), but ultimately you’re right that this doesn’t REALLY hold up as a class commentary. My point is more so that it foregoes outward commentary like that (we never actually learn about who’s exploiting her, by design) because any potential material to make broader points is funneled back into the specific subject of body image. Good or bad, that’s what the movie is doing.
It’s also true that the world of the movie is intentionally abstract and closed-off, but I don’t think it’s the point of a fable to NOT make us think about the real world. Again, Quaid’s character is named Harvey! Surely we’re supposed to be making some connections.
@@TaylorJWilliams I just mean the substance is not a thing of the world of the film, it has no creator or logic to its application beyond the trickster like humiliation of its subject (see: obvious warnings, the forcing of the subject to bow to get their neatly drip fed food to remind them of their place, personification as one voice instead of a corporate apparatus). The media org Harvey runs doesn’t force her onto it or have any relationship with the substance, instead they exist as external pressures that take a back seat to the primary externalized conflict within herself. Everything she loses she takes from herself and the substance only raises the stakes.
Like even the first time she takes the extra spinal fluid is just her repeating the same pattern as the opening of the film when she tries to go out and ends up puking her guts out, in those early scenes heavy emphasis is placed visually on her back and it’s top lit with hard light in a way that exposes every imperfection and mark of age. When she then is hooking up with motorcycle douchebag the opposite motif is played with a dynamic camera move up Sues spine as she again overindulges and is faced with even more severe consequences when she wakes up the next morning. And it’s not even for work or any outside pressure or expectation it’s for sensory pleasure (Sue) or overindulgence (Elizabeth) and that cycle of the two desires feeding into one another as self hatred that the film is really interested in.
She is offered the opportunity to end it repeatedly but is unable to summon the will to let go of her last vestige of beauty even when it costs her everything she once valued about herself.
To me, so far, this is the best movie of the year. It felt like I imagine people felt when Peter Jackson's Braindead first came out. It manages to be funny, clever, and absolutely disgusting, and I'm here for it. In Braindead, two zombies have intercourse which results in a baby zombie; I never stopped to ask "wait a minute, how is that possible?" because the tone of the film is so clearly cartoony and satirical. Same here; The Substance is leaning into horror comedy's generic conventions, fully embracing them. In these days, where cinematic "elevation" supposedly consists in creating distance from the horror genre, I found The Substance quite refreshing.
I don't think her flashbacking to prior dialogue is her spoon-feeding the audience, and more just a replication of how these ideas rattle in a woman's head, constantly, whether they like it or not. if it pisses you off that that the dialogue was repeated, I think that's the point she's trying to make. it pisses these women off that this dialogue is constantly repeated in their heads and the spaces they occupy. this is the catalyst of the self hatred
Trust the white boys to come and scream on all platforms how they did not care for a film directed and written by a woman with two female main characters and have the themes of female rage, mother-daughter relationships and nuances of the female experience completely fly over their heads ✨
Always so quick with calling things that women face every single day "simple points" that don't deserve screen time and endless comparisons to male directors! Well, if the men say it's simple, then sure...
I agree. I thought the repetition was purposeful to drive home how the characters feel within themselves
Yeah I think it's reasonable to conclude the repeated dialogue is a reflection of the film's subjectivity. The majority of the film is filmed with Elisabeth's perspective in mind and thus those edits are part of her subjective experience, not necessarily to spoonfeed the audience.
your video just made me like this movie even more. I think this might be one of my three 5 star films of the year. great video
does it insist upon itself?
From my understanding, it’s a film that argues for the maintenance of borders, stating that these things have an essential nature to them and shouldn’t deviate from the path laid out for them. Body horror, like a lot of horror genre, argues for the maintenance of the status quo, the deformed body representing an unwelcome change that should be avoided at all costs and serves as a warning.
I loved the body horror as i enjoy practical effects but it ironically lacked any substance. It felt like a very flashy music video, good performances and amazing visuals and montages and thats it. Incredibly shallow and very surface level commentary. I was pretty disappointed.
My issue is the reviews that call this film feminist. Feminism is about improving life for women in general and challenging conventional thinking. Elizabeth totally believes and buys into conventional beauty standards. She only is angry that she no longer benefits. She also only wants to improve her on life. She has no community and no politics or philosophy.
It’s feminist in that it’s a warning to NOT do what Elizabeth did.
a depiction of a character that holds certain beliefs does not mean those beliefs are what the film is imparting thematically. when people call the film "feminist" they aren't saying elizabeth herself is a feminist.
just got home from seeing the movie and you said my thoughts about it almost exactly! i was initially really on board with its tone and what it was going for in the beginning but as it kept going it really just wore me down with how on the nose everything was. idk i thought the concept was cool and i loved the body horror but the movie as a whole just didn't do it for me
I watched an interview with the writer and all her commentary about the movie was so surface level that i dont believe she was the only writer. Ive watched dozens of reviews and nobody gets the film . I find that odd being how simple the movie is. Time to start a channel
lol okay champ
yh i didn't really like this film, granted I'm not a big fan of body horror anyways. But I didn't know anything about this film going in initially. I think everything was just a lot for me to process, I had a bit of a censory overload. I know people will either love or hate this film for its subtext, I'm aligning mre with Taylors views. But I'm just not a big fan of that kind of thing. It was mean-spirited and honestly just fucking disgusting to look at. Which is something I'm not actively seeking in film, to that extent. but of course those are just just my thoughts :)
So the film is basically pro-essentialism?
top
This movie looked pretentious just from the trailer lol “they replace the old actresses!!!” We yeah. The only business they keeps those that are to enfeebled to do anything is the government.
I love this movie because of the profound significance for Demi Moore in the role. The actress herself has spent her entire career being both praised for her beauty and maligned for 'doing too much' to hold on to it. You can tell how cathartic some of the scenes were for her to act.
I thought that was rolling into a hello fresh ad😭
This movie is a gem. I hope Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Coralie Fargeat, the makeup and special effects teams get a lot of nominations and recognition.
Horror films seldom get recognition for their performances despite many amazing examples of them. If the makeup fx and editing is overlooked, I will protest the awards.
The Substance will go down as a masterpiece classic. The resentment between the old and the new was powerful even if it was somewhat simplistic.
It seems this movie doesn’t resonate with men at all, this is an overall shitty take with good points. I respect your opinion but I can’t help but find you patronising, you don’t seem to have respect for any of this movie, all you do is reference other films for the majority of this video, if the references are meant to be so “obvious” and heavy handed on purpose, then why beat the point to death.
yeah lol such a preachy video but hey he had some good points I agree with you
imagine the “repetitive bludgeoning” of the theme being your LIFE. that’s womanhood in capitalism. this is a MALE a55 take if I’ve ever seen one.
This isn't just a "male" take on the movie tbh. This guy's a very bitter critic. I used to like his channel a lot until I realised he doesn't sympathise with characters or try to understand the bigger narrative. He just cares about how stories made him feel. He's smart at times, but his analysis of movies is often immature and driven by bias.
The guys in the comment section have me absolutely rolling with laughter at how confident they are that the movie has no merits when they clearly just don't get it
I saw this movie as being about the experience of aging as a woman, not so much aging "as a celebrity". Obviously the Hollywood element is there, but it's so absurd and farcical that it really just feels like a playground for the bigger message. None of the indoor spaces in the film feel "real". They're just a stage to watch the human body. More important is the fact that Demi Moore is a bombshell at the start of the film, but she's stopped seeing herself as a person worthy of existing, fame or not (since she's barely acknowledged for her fame in public anyway).
The movie is very much shot for the female gaze, which I know is an insane thing to say about a movie with so much female nudity. But (and I say this as a queer woman) the endless shots of butts and boobs and genitals are so egregious that they lose their sexuality. You can feel the self-consciousness in the nudity. It's so relatable it's painful, and while it's not subtle, it really worked for me.
I don't think it's a perfect movie. The flashbacks (especially the auditory ones) are too heavy-handed for my taste and I wish more time was spent developing the story through individual scenes as opposed to montages. But it's camp and immersive and really spoke to me and my friends through a lens of womanhood. The other themes are there and they're important, but it's hard to see this movie through another lens (especially when weighed next to Fargeat's other film, Revenge).
So, you're aware that the director is aware of what the movie is. If the movie isn't trying to insist that it's smarter than it is then why are you spending more time dissecting something and insisting on attempting to outsmart and outmaneuver this film? This video is about as self congratulatory as you claim the film is. You can argue that this video is just part of the discourse, but you beat us over the head for 27 minutes about points that don't exist in the plot. You missed the point of the movie. I saw this movie twice already and none of the points you project upon the film exist. The video feels more like you were trying to hit a word limit (watch time as well). This comment isn't toxic. It's just part of the discourse.
Joseph Conrad?
love when people use “difficult” words to sound intelligent lol you can do your review without being pretentious my dude
I agree with some points you made tho
This dude is incapable of not being pretentious, he will probably drop it when he gets older tho.
Trust the men to come and scream on all platforms how they did not care for a film directed and written by a woman with two female main characters and also have the themes of female rage, mother-daughter relationships and nuances of the female experience completely fly over their heads ✨
Always so quick with calling things that women face every single day "simple points" that don't deserve screen time and endless comparisons to male directors! Well, if the men say it's simple, then sure...
The last scene was actually heartbreaking to watch, I cried in the theatre while the men sitting beside me giggled at the blood splattering and the boob falling out of her. You focus too much on the "ASMR" and visual aspect of the body horror scenes and completely miss the allegedly simplistic point behind it - you are SUPPOSED TO feel it, the weight of it, the sensory overload, the expectations, the voices in your head, the derealization from your perfected image. It was a devastatingly sad scene. The director did everything for the audience (including men) to FEEL it, yet we are out here analyzing the references and saying it was too much
I loved this film. It didn't tread new territory but it was an exciting visual, cerebral experience, the audio and sparse dialogue were so smart, excellent casting and performances as well. The commodification and discarding of the female body is something men don't experience so i fear what this film conveys won't really resonate with most male viewers.
@@SUD8800 I'm a man and I thought this movie was absolutely brilliant. I'm considering seeing it a 3rd time at this point. I don't think a man could've told this story as well or pushed the envelope. The finale is very powerful. The final cry for help was hard to see. The very last moment of returning to the star where it all began was great. I just thought it was funny that the script for this video was probably 5x longer than the one from the movie and I didn't learn anything new. Just a bunch of talk. I used to really like this channel and now I don't know why I'm still subscribed.
Lovely analysis. My out of theater thoughts, Fun overt ride. Powerful enough. I'll probably check out Revenge now
To say that you didn’t care for it, isn’t to say that it isn’t award worthy.
The Substance is cinema
It insists upon itself.
Not to mention the over advertising. I felt like I was watching an extension of the advertisement
This is very well argued but unfortunately you said 'Joseph Conrad' instead of Jospeh Campbell at 6:17 so
Lmao touché
I agree, the most frustrating part of this film is how it refuses to abide by its own logic. Why does Elisabeth use the substance? If she gets absolutely nothing out of it, and her other self constantly is screwing her over then WHY DOES SHE CONTINUE TO DO IT?
They are ONE. It can be interpreted as extreme body modification.
@@reng935 Here's the thing "They are one" sounds nice and tidy, until you actually watch the movie and see that neither of them recall the other's experiences. Yes, their actions have consequences for the other, but they are very much their own separate entity making their own selfish decisions. They do not have a joint consciousness. Elisabeth does not share Sue's experience. She has no idea what Sue is doing for her week+. She is not getting to indulge in her youth again. So my question persists, what does Elisabeth get out of the substance?
Because she thinks they are? She can see the success reflect throughout the day but it eats away at her?
@@soodhooku what do you mean “she thinks they are?” If you had a mini-me idealized version of yourself out in the world, but you have no idea what it does and it only makes your life worse, what motive is there for you to keep on with this situation?
This the last time I'm letting twitter choose a movie for me
I agree with you, very shallow storyline + the most annoying was the young/older versions seemed two different people and didnt remember what the other one was doing.
I think that’s how it works. That’s why the instructions really tried to reinforce that they were the same, because they don’t really share the same mind.
@@ninjaeddy1717 with certain changes it could have been great. As it is now, it was aesthetic and opportunity to admire Demi Moore who was more charismatic than yonung actress.
I hated the body shots it felt like the Megan fox transformers scene people always talk about
...surely the movie isn't poking fun at that
A body horror focusing on the body????? No way!
It was supposed to be a commentary on the male gaze
bruh what did you expect from a body horror movie about aging and youth?
Me when I lack any kind of media literacy
6:23 I literally don’t believe you predicted that ending