By LILI EDWARDS
If you are anything like me, you spend a horrendous amount of time scrolling on TikTok, and you also get a ton of movie recommendations from whatever edits pop up on your for you page. I started getting edits for “The Substance” a few weeks ago and naturally added it to my Letterboxd watchlist. I finally got around to watching it, and I fully understand and agree with the hype. I am not a fan of horror at all, but the usage of body horror in this film is perfectly executed.
Body horror is a section of horror that involves the psychological or physical violation of a human body. Of course, “The Substance” is a commentary on the pressures of society upon women, as well as discussing ageism and all that, so the usage of body horror makes plenty of sense. I have not seen any other movies that do body horror so well. It is an incredibly gory movie, but it definitely does not feel like a typical horror movie. It does an excellent job of conveying a message that has been overdone in recent years.
My favorite aspect of storytelling in “The Substance” is the usage of color symbolism. Using primary colors tells the story of the main character, Elisabeth’s, eventual fragmentation. When Elisabeth is young and perfect, they wear beautiful bright blues, the studio walls and floor are a stunning red, and most notably, Elisabeth’s yolk-colored coat. She becomes a broken egg over and over again every time she switches. The longer Sue is in charge, the more she rejects the primary colors while Elisabeth leans into them as much as possible.
My main criticism of this film is that the man who gives her the information on “The Substance” looks straight out of the movie Uglies. He is shiny and almost uncanny. It also does not make sense that he would take this drug just to become a medical student or nurse. Even if he was someone who was supposed to advertise it, that doesn’t make a ton of sense since he is around the 200th user of it.
Overall, this film is visually stunning and hard to look away from. I recommend it to anyone, especially people who don’t like or appreciate horror movies.
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