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Chris Gore and Alan Ng review “The Substance,” now playing in theaters.
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0:03
all right let's talk about the
0:06
substance which for my money and we're
0:09
going to be very koi about the story I
0:12
don't want to talk too much about the
0:15
story but this is the substance is a uh
0:19
I wouldn't say it's a French film but it
0:21
feels very French it's directed by corly
0:24
far or far it's about Elizabeth Sparkle
0:30
she is an older um actress who does an
0:34
exercise show played by Demi Moore she
0:36
does a show uh that is she like a Jane
0:39
Fonda figure she was an actress she does
0:42
this show she's in very good shape for
0:44
her age she's 50 years old and does a
0:47
little exercise show where she's very
0:49
sexy on camera but she gets fired by uh
0:55
um the studio boss played by Dennis
0:58
Quaid she then gets in a car accident
1:01
and someone suggests hey maybe you might
1:03
benefit from this thing called the
1:06
substance what is the
1:08
substance well this is all from the
1:10
trailer but it separates you into two
1:13
people a more perfect view version of
1:16
you that's younger and you but only one
1:19
of you can exist at the same time every
1:21
seven days you must switch back to the
1:25
older version of you your original and
1:28
then your your Other
1:31
Self The Other Self is played by uh I
1:35
believe the actress's name is Margaret
1:39
Margaret kwali you've seen in movies
1:42
like kinds of kindness among others he
1:45
plays a character called Sue so
1:47
Elizabeth Sparkle takes this compound
1:51
the substance and splits herself into
1:54
two beings one younger and more perfect
1:58
and More Beautiful and then her original
2:01
Self remains
2:04
unconscious during Sue's
2:09
existence Sue then becomes very popular
2:13
she she immediately um replaces
2:17
Elizabeth Sparkle on a new show called
2:19
Pump It
2:20
Up where she exercises in very sexy
2:25
hoses um and begins to get a little uh
2:31
greedy when it comes to her existence in
2:35
the younger perfect form taking the very
2:38
life substance from Elizabeth while she
2:41
remains in her catatonic
2:44
State this movie is probably one of the
2:47
best comedies of the year the best
2:50
horror movies of the year and I'll say
2:52
one of the best movies of the year for
2:55
which Demi Moore should get an Oscar
2:58
nomination
3:00
I saw the movie uh last week I saw it
3:03
again last night back to back
3:06
twice audiences and we won't talk about
3:09
the third Act of the film this is going
3:11
to be non-spoiler for now um the shock
3:16
ending of the movie you texted me oh my
3:20
God and I KN knew you had just finished
3:22
seeing the movie but for those that are
3:25
turned off by the gore and the horror
3:27
and the depths to this movie the depth
3:30
this movies goes I'll just say there are
3:33
more layers to this this this movie I
3:36
cannot stop thinking about it it's about
3:40
beauty standards it's about how women
3:43
are valued based on their looks it's
3:46
about the links people will go to keep
3:49
their beauty and their so their value in
3:54
Hollywood the opening image of the movie
3:57
one of the opening images of the movie
3:59
is of a Hollywood star of Elizabeth
4:02
Sparkle and what happens to that star it
4:05
begins to fade a lot of the um dialogue
4:09
which the dialogue is very sparse it's
4:12
very tur dialogue there is not a moment
4:15
that is wasted the script is so tight
4:19
even though the running time people will
4:21
have problems with the running time it's
4:23
2 hours and 20 minutes it flies by for
4:26
me it doesn't feel that long but I'll
4:29
say what makes this movie work for me is
4:33
it's a body horror movie on the level of
4:36
the fly or uh video Drome or other body
4:40
horror that exists and my God it's like
4:45
the kind of horror movies that that work
4:48
for me and resonate for me are ones that
4:51
are um that have ideas and the ideas in
4:55
this film you'll be thinking about like
4:57
it's act actor ing actresses Hollywood
5:01
and how they treat women although I'll
5:03
say while the men the men in the film
5:06
are pretty much caricatures of types of
5:09
men in Hollywood I didn't feel the film
5:12
didn't feel really anti-men at all um
5:15
but my God I love this film this is on
5:18
my top films of the year the substance
5:22
along with strange darling along with
5:24
coffee table and it's a shocker uh this
5:28
movie won Best greenplay at can but
5:32
famously at can lots of people walked
5:36
out of the film and the third Act is a
5:38
middle finger to Hollywood a literal
5:42
middle finger to Hollywood um shocking
5:46
and the fact that only a female director
5:49
could really tell this story there are
5:52
moments for example and other things
5:54
that are shocking not just the gore
5:56
nudity there is full frontal nudity
6:00
from both Demi Moore and Margaret qua as
6:03
Sue I mean it's and you'll see it
6:06
there's there's even a moment where when
6:08
she wakes up in the new younger body
6:10
she's taking a shower Sue Margaret qua
6:13
and she's feeling her new ass because uh
6:17
Elizabeth Sparkle's ass was a little
6:19
flabby her ass is like not tight
6:22
and you know you could bounce a quarter
6:26
off it um my God I I could pray ra this
6:30
movie up in down I cannot stop thinking
6:32
about it my uh some friends saw it last
6:35
night they're like uh it's good but I
6:37
didn't love it like are texting me I
6:39
can't stop thinking about this movie um
6:43
so I'm over the moon I I think um like I
6:47
say Demi should get an Oscar nom for
6:50
this but the academy is not real
6:54
favorable on horror I think genre movies
6:58
are not respected in Hollywood like they
7:00
should be when someone gives a great
7:02
performance in a genre movie it's not
7:06
acknowledged Demi Mo deserves it at
7:09
least a nomination for this film Allan
7:12
what did you think of the substance yeah
7:14
I mean let's be real if you're gonna
7:16
give Emma Stone an Oscar for poor things
7:19
why why can't you nominate Demi Moore
7:21
for this exactly yeah um yeah I I'll say
7:26
this again like you I can't stop
7:27
thinking about it I'll say that the
7:29
first 20 minutes of this movie I could
7:31
watch those first 20 minutes a hundred
7:33
times over
7:36
um I mean Demi Moore is so beautiful in
7:39
this movie and um she still got it and
7:41
Margaret qu I didn't know much about her
7:44
uh I can't wait for her to do another
7:46
movie with Sydney Sweeney um maybe a
7:50
maybe bring back
7:52
the um oh my gosh she is so beautiful in
7:55
this movie H uh this
8:00
I don't like body horror I am not a fan
8:02
of body horror and there's a lot of body
8:04
Horror in this and I most of the most of
8:06
the back end of the movie is me just not
8:08
watching the movie and just waiting for
8:10
scenes to be done um but I will say the
8:13
those first 20 minutes made it worth it
8:17
um side what I like about this movie and
8:20
what I wish more movies were like is is
8:23
that a movie that says something that
8:25
that has a comment on today's culture uh
8:29
we talked about beauty the standards of
8:30
beauty uh we've seen a lot of those
8:32
films o over the decades but this one
8:35
truly takes a unique approach to it and
8:37
and so that's why I'm I'm like I I'm
8:40
disgusted by what I'm seeing but I
8:42
understand what's going on and I'm I'm
8:43
liking it uh movie feels like a two hour
8:47
and 20 minute episode of The Twilight
8:49
Zone uh it just takes an idea and
8:52
expands upon it you know what would
8:54
beautiful for the rest of your life yeah
8:56
how far would you go to be beautiful but
8:58
also women like look no surprise in
9:01
Hollywood OIC is a big thing you know
9:04
this weight loss where people look
9:05
unhealthy yeah from their weight loss or
9:08
surgery you there so many people have
9:10
commented the one actress from the boys
9:13
got maybe a little too much plastic
9:15
surgery this is a thing so this deals
9:18
with that's why I think that I think
9:19
women also by the way I've spoken to
9:21
many women who have seen this movie and
9:23
they react very differently I think this
9:26
is more a horror film that women will
9:28
relate to but also women of certain
9:31
stages of life will perceive this movie
9:35
differently but I I I was texting back
9:38
and forth with Rob Bernett I think this
9:40
film is a masterpiece I think it's a
9:42
movie we'll be talking about for years
9:44
to come already on my top 10 yeah I
9:47
think it should be should be an awards
9:50
Contender but it's going to affect
9:53
people in strong ways they are going to
9:56
be turned off some people may walk out
9:58
of the movie especially in that third
10:01
ACT people will walk out of this film
10:03
you will watch and see that's why I went
10:05
to see it a second time I want to see
10:07
what how the people reacted yeah
10:10
everything from the soundtrack to and by
10:12
the way this movie was there's a Q&A on
10:15
the if you're a member of the film
10:17
threat Channel see the Q&A with the
10:19
director um this was all shot on a sound
10:23
stage in France most of it on a Sound
10:26
Stage it was um
10:29
storyboarded Parts feel like a graphic
10:32
novel there's a fe fetishization of like
10:37
the procedure of they really spend time
10:40
on how the procedure makes two of you
10:43
and they label the
10:45
ingredients so you understand you the
10:48
audience understands how it works this
10:51
is what I love in these types of movies
10:54
I don't like when you're making up rules
10:56
they show you the rules here's how the
10:59
rules of of the substance
11:02
Works here's the consequences of the
11:06
substance literally
11:08
the yeah of not following literally the
11:11
horror in the movie is parts of Demi
11:14
Moore become old she's old and aging
11:19
that's the body [ __ ] which everyone can
11:23
relate to because eventually we're all
11:26
going to get old we're all going to have
11:28
flab thighs and knees that get if we you
11:31
know age to a certain you know age um
11:35
and it gets into the body horror of
11:37
watching your body change and become old
11:41
like that's the level of body horror and
11:44
that's why I think it's so affecting
11:46
because it puts us in touch with our own
11:49
mortality yeah I I will I second all
11:54
that to but to me the the the greatest
11:56
thing about this movie is again and I
11:58
say this a lot about movies especially
12:01
just the critic
12:04
I that makes you think Beyond just the
12:07
narrative that's going on in front of
12:08
you and that's why I call it a two-hour
12:10
Twilight Zone episode because every
12:12
episode of The Twilight Zone took some
12:14
aspect uh whether it's age um you know
12:17
you could go down the line of each
12:19
episode and why you like that episode of
12:21
Twilight Zone this is one of those and
12:22
it just goes it takes it further and
12:25
goes into body horror uh but not body
12:28
horer not for the sake a body horror but
12:30
it means something to the overall theme
12:32
of this movie it's more than that hold
12:35
on let me AGA you know they're going to
12:38
these these Escape rooms where they
12:41
learn something about themselves you
12:43
know this movie does it so much better
12:45
it says something more deeper than just
12:47
these themes of Sisterhood and and
12:49
getting along uh the movie Men uh I kept
12:52
thinking about the movie Men When I saw
12:54
this movie and and um you know the the
12:57
the things that happened in this movie
12:59
have reason to it and and I got to say
13:02
the ending the very ending in this
13:05
circle uh and is just the the the bow on
13:09
the
13:10
package well I'll just say this and the
13:12
coffee table the coffee table the the
13:14
reason I didn't like the coffee table is
13:16
because not only the event in the
13:18
beginning but I I wanted I had to watch
13:21
it because I felt like there was going
13:22
to be some payoff at the end and and
13:25
this movie has the payoff that I wish
13:26
the coffee table had it definitely has
13:28
the payoff but I'll say this I've always
13:30
liked genre that has layers horror films
13:34
that have I like you know uh being
13:37
chased by the monster I like those
13:39
movies but there's not much to those
13:42
right um body horror is one of my
13:46
favorites when it's done well and
13:48
literally the monster in this movie is
13:51
the person you're looking at in the
13:53
mirror it is you you are the monster so
13:57
she becomes monster in effect um her own
14:02
undoing because they keep repeating you
14:05
are one the dialogue is so sparse in
14:07
this and it's really I I I don't know
14:10
it's the kind of smart horror movie I
14:13
love but I understand some people just
14:16
give me a monster whatever there's more
14:19
to this film there's far more to this
14:22
movie and I loved it one of my favorite
14:24
movies of the year we're going to talk
14:26
about it on Monday on verses with a
14:28
whole panel of people bring not our
14:31
usual panel um I here's the thing I I
14:35
wish Jack schaer had watched this movie
14:37
movie before she wrote Agatha all
14:41
along because then she would have
14:44
something to say in her show and some
14:47
and have some meaning in her show uh but
14:51
obviously she didn't and this is the
14:52
path that that Star Wars Disney Star
14:54
Wars and Marvel have been taking for way
14:56
too long well my hope is this movie
14:59
movie gets the awards recognition it
15:01
deserves I mean it's got a female
15:03
director it's also and this this only
15:05
her second movie she made a movie called
15:07
Revenge that's on shudder I tried to buy
15:10
it you can't buy it it's on shudder I'm
15:12
gonna watch that movie only her second
15:15
film she spent years on this years and
15:18
by the way um uh Universal Pictures
15:21
funded this
15:23
movie and then decided not to do it they
15:27
like
15:29
they they didn't release it and it came
15:31
out from movie so it's in theaters now
15:34
you really need to see it um it's also
15:37
like like I just love ideas and I love
15:41
genre works when you have
15:43
rules I I like they lay out the rules
15:46
simply to the audience on big black on
15:50
big uh index cards the rules we're
15:53
explaining the rules here here's how the
15:55
movie works we might break some of these
15:58
rules
15:59
and then what the cost is and about the
16:02
choices the characters make I think this
16:05
moviees I think the movie does well in
16:07
the theaters and gains traction like
16:09
people are talking about it it will get
16:11
Oscar uh it'll get Awards also also I'll
16:15
say for its Oscar's chances it's going
16:18
to be because of uh Hollywood likes
16:22
films about itself you know like Babylon
16:27
um Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
16:29
Hollywood Loves movies about the
16:32
industry this is about a part of the
16:34
industry what do women have to do to
16:37
remain relevant and bankable in
16:41
Hollywood you know how far would an
16:44
actress go to continue to receive love
16:48
of strangers they focus on certain words
16:51
like love there's there's even like
16:54
closeups of the word love since I've
16:56
seen the movie three times I noticed so
16:58
much more about it it is really
17:01
hammering the message a lot of it like
17:03
really in your face but it is so
17:07
relevant and so important and I hope I
17:11
hope it gets the recognition it deserves
17:13
nine and a half out of 10 for me one of
17:16
my favorite movies of the Year up there
17:18
with strange darling coffee table you
17:20
know my taste not the same as Allen and
17:24
I kind of made him go to see this so
17:27
that's where it is for me Alan what
17:29
about you I give it eight and a half uh
17:31
I'm I don't see it as the Masterpiece as
17:33
you do but it's it's it's a definite
17:36
recommendation and no I will not be
17:38
taking my daughter to see this movie I
17:41
all right well there we go yes this is
17:43
not a movie for your daughter but um
17:46
please see it we'll and we'll talk about
17:48
it um in more detail after you've all
17:50
seen it let's go to comments here
17:59
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