The Substance (2024)★★★★☆

This has to have been one of THE most hyped movies from this year, especially from my real-life circle of friends and family, so I was hesitant to watch it. I’d also tried not to spoil too much for myself before seeing it, which was difficult because there were so many “ending explained” or other spoiler-filled reviews popping up immediately after its release. But I think I mostly succeeded and finally sat down to watch this. And I’m going to try not to spoil much for you in this review.

The first thing I noticed was how well done the opening sequence with the Hollywood Boulevard star was. I love the visual passage of time and the literal mess someone makes of it. The second thing I noticed was how much the cinematography (and particularly the odd, awkward close-up angles and images of people eating) reminded me of Fresh. So it started out quite well.

And while this is overall an entirely different film from Fresh, there are other similarities on top of the camerawork. Primarily in content warnings. The films should both have content warnings for practically every scene, honestly. This movie, while a lot of the “violence towards women” is psychological as opposed to physical, should carry the additional content warning of “dear lord do NOT watch this if you can’t deal with needles”. Seriously, stay far away.

But I’ve seen enough of this kind of movie to be inured to it, and I was pleasantly surprised to NOT be disappointed by this film. I didn’t love it (I don’t feel it quite landed its ending, and it definitely felt as long as the almost two and a half hours it was), but I did like it quite a bit. It’s a high four stars for me. I don’t even know how to recommend this one. It’s the kind of fever dream I wouldn’t really wish on anyone who doesn’t know what they’re getting into, but also it was highly entertaining for a very specific definition of entertaining? And I don’t think I’ll ever need to see it again.