The Substance

This movie actively gave me the chills. I think some of the themes were a bit too in your face (literally and metaphorically) and the dialogue, while minimal, was also a bit dull for me personally. I loved the outrageous ending, and was impressed by how engaging this film was despite the minimal location changes and the small number of characters. Unfortunately (and fortunately), it did a good job reminding me just how sad it is to be a woman in American society and the very real psychological and physical dangers of projected bodily perfection as the only worthy metric of one’s own worth. How far are we willing to go to preserve something so unnatural as stopping time and aging even when its benefits may ultimately be empty, hungry ghost emotions (the need— and confusion— to be desired versus loved, for instance).