with a lot of life lessons too.
I want to start this post with some of the things I liked about THE SUBSTANCE
I loved how they used the star on the Walk of Fame to show the passage of time and the fickleness of fame.
I loved that the movie started and ended with the star.
Demi Moore looks great and is a wonderful actress.
The way they used the camera to make Harvey i.e. Dennis Quaid’s character look gross was the stuff of wonders.
He was so repugnant and a complete asshole. I think he was the embodiment of whatever Harvey Weinstein was.
The first 30 minutes of THE SUBSTANCE was high-octane. We were breezing through it with no time to breathe.
The use of sound was perfect. I loved it.
Some other stuff I noticed
The ad for THE SUBSTANCE in the movie reminded me of the ad for NERVE in the movie NERVE.
The plot of this movie is very similar to the Korean WEBTOON comic Lookism.
The birth of the second her (Sue) was scary but not in a gory kind of way. It was the anticipation.
Lessons learned from THE SUBSTANCE
THE SUBSTANCE was a deep look into when self-hatred takes centre stage in one’s life.
It is easy to hate Sue for treating Elisabeth horribly but they are one and the same. This was why the movie used THE VOICE to remind Elisabeth, Sue and Us that they are one person.
Sue was the living, breathing, and uninhibited personification of Elisabeth’s SELF-HATRED. She was vain, loved work and wanted to be in the spotlight all the time.
Elisabeth was obsessed with youth to an unhealthy degree. So much so that she stood Fred up.
I liked Fred. He was cool.
After the first week of living as Sue, the first switch was done and we saw how impatient Elisabeth was while waiting for the days to end.
Elisabeth as Elisabeth wanted to be Sue all the time and Sue quickly became a manifestation of that desire.
So about the lessons…
Vanity upon vanity is VANITY.
Free thyself from the chokehold of SUNK COST FALLACY. Always quit while you still can.
You don’t know what you have till it’s gone. Elisabeth looked great before she took THE SUBSTANCE and in the end, she yearned to be her old self again.
If you have the opportunity to destroy your enemy, show no mercy because if you do, it will be fatal for you.
Most times, you are your own worst enemy.