<em>The Substance</em> is a diabolically delightful body horror | Cannes review
An aging Hollywood starlet gets another chance at stardom when she discovers a mysterious serum that generates a younger more beautiful version of yourself in The Substance.
Even if I told you where Coralie Fargeat’s Palme d’Or-competing The Substance ends up, you’d probably order a psych evaluation before believing me. It’s impossible to understate how audacious, disturbing but ultimately satisfying the conclusion to this twist on The Picture of Dorian Gray by way of Sunset Boulevard by way of a bloody body horror—think The Fly or The Thing or Julia Ducournau's Palme-winning Titane. The movie lures us in with a straightforward satire on Hollywood beauty standards and actresses' shamefully short "shelf life" before transforming and twisting itself into a completely different monster (this is foreshadowing).
The movie begins with a time-lapse of Elisabeth Sparkle's (Demi Moore) star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame going from newly minted and adored by fans to cracks forming on the surface …