Phrew! That's a wild one! If you're thinking that you've never heard and seen one of those actresses who played one of the hippies from Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood just like I mention one from Anora then you might be looking at the other one now in the next film I'm doing right now, The Substance. You know, from what I heard and seen from the cover, this is going to be one hell of the grotesque thrill ride. Especially when the still of that film you're thinking of getting a Pro upgrade of your own account from Letterboxd. Yes, that's that still clip from The Substance. Starring Demi Moore, Dennis Quaid and of course, like I said, one of the hippies, Margaret Qualley. With Coralie Fargeat directing the film, I heard that she's taking this film on the Cronenberg side which is one of the reasons why this is a body horror film known to be taking inspirations from David's previous films like Videodrome, The Fly and Dead Ringers so yeah, before seeing this knowing this'll be gory in general, I know I'm going to be in for one bloody and gory journey. Hollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle played by Demi Moore, is being dismissed from her long-running aerobics show by its producer, Harvey played by Dennis Quaid, because of her age. Geez, that was ageist and sexist. She crashes her car while looking at a billboard of herself being taken down. She orders herself a drug called The Substance and injects the single-use of serum and she convulses herself into a younger woman called Sue played by Margaret Qualley. At the advert says that one has dreamt of better versions of themselves as they are one. The two bodies switched consciousness every seven days without exception, with the inactive body remaining unconscious. As Sue starting to become a star while Elisabeth's stardom is fading away still, she thinks something went wrong as Sue is not respecting the balance, everything goes t**s up from here. What makes this movie so memorable is makeup effects like the effects itself is phenomenal even towards the end when I think something is not going to end well, it really doesn't end well as all and that's why it's a wild as hell if you know what's going to happen even you haven't got a clue what it is then you know it's going to be gory by a minute. And why did Harvey have to fire Elisabeth from the show 'cause she's getting old? I mean, he didn't just say that she was fired, he was just stuttering and then changes the subject as he see a friend of his. She wasn't told she was dismissed, she heard him saying he wanted a hot younger woman star in the men's toilet room, so yeah, that's kind of ageist and sexist, if you know what I mean. Hehehe. Coralie Fargeat, a director who I never heard of before which comes to my knowledge as I said before is known to have taking inspirations from David Cronenberg with the body horror but that's not one thing that goes to mind. She's also taken influences from the likes of John Carpenter, David Lynch, Paul Verhoeven, and Michael Haneke (never heard of him). Many influenced films by these directors have known to be memorable and good looking by their own right. Way before The Substance she did, there's another film which I never watched is directed by her and that's Revenge. From what I know so far is that this is similar to Mad Max and Rambo as this was influenced as well. As for Elisabeth wanted to be a better version, she's already as fit and hot as she can be just like Jane Fonda, that is to say, she's still sexy in every yoga class she's been in and Sue is much hotter and fitter which is why she become even more sexier. And as for the gory parts being too graphic which is why we love about it and the t**s and a***es are sexier too. As it is, The Substance is one helliva gory thrill ride filled with a good story, great directing, acting and makeup effects especially the gore effects are very satisfying. If you want a trippy experience like The Substance, check out the list of the films that you found similar that you have experienced before like what I've looked upon is that The Substance completely influenced David Cronenberg's The Fly, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Coen Brothers' Barton Fink, David Lynch's Mulholland Drive, Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. What more could you want? It is completely one hell of a trip! The Substance is something that will keep the horror fans invested in the gorefested thrill ride they've ever wanted and I hope Coralie Fargeat has got something up her sleeve when she comes for an idea for another film she is thinking about doing and that is why it is one of the best films of 2024. Ta-da!