The Substance
oh the dangers of self-glorification and self-sabotage </3
LOVED this to death. one of the best horror movies i’ve watched in my entire life. even better that i watched in a cinema that wasn’t even 1/3 filled, but EVERYONE including myself were audibly gasping, laughing, wincing, gagging and whining in the last hour. the most visceral experience i’ve ever had in a half-empty theatre and i’m so glad i went in not watching any trailers because hoooly shit. this was the impact and shock i expected to leave longlegs with given all the rave praising it to be the “most unsettling movie ever” but unfortunately didn’t.
i love that the shock factors weren’t even just there to serve as “shock factor”, they actually had motive and an extremely well-deserved payoff.
i could genuinely write essays about the layers this has and themes it tackles. but basically fuck ageism, fuck the oversexualisation of women, fuck misogyny, and also fuck our brains for constantly sabotaging ourselves and poisoning our self-image and confidence with comparison. godddddd i love this movie. i really do. i’ve never felt so refreshed watching a horror movie in too damn long.
also that pre-date scene????? god that was so painfully relatable. i can count the number of times a few years ago, when my mental health was at one of its all-time lows, that i’ve ditched my friends last minute with excuses just because i wasn’t satisfied with how i looked and couldn’t for the life is me find a “good enough” outfit. the breakdown was so accurate. i felt so seen.
and also the scenes in the beginning were such a sucker punch to my freshly ocd-diagnosed soul LMAOOO. mf really ate prawn and patted his buddy without washing his hands after pissing. gross.
ily coralie fargeat thank you. you’re an absolute genius. infinity out of ten for me tbh.
(also funny story: at home after the movie, i was bringing it up to my mom. bitch tell me why after i said the name demi moore, the VERY first thing she said was “died??” 😭😭😭😭 morbid ass woman)