The Substance

Very disturbing.

I have never been a big fan of body horror films, but The Substance has a few things going for it that a typical body horror film does not have. Namely, one Demi Moore providing one of the best, albeit horrific, performances of her career.

According to IMDB, “Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? You. Only better in every way. Seriously. You’ve got to try this new product. It’s called The Substance. It changed my life. It generates another you. A new, younger, more beautiful, more perfect, you. And there’s only one rule: You share time. One week for you. One week for the new you. Seven days each. A perfect balance. Easy. Right? If you respect the balance… what could possibly go wrong?”

The dialogue was limited, but the performance from Demi Moore was so great. It was impressive how much she was able to emote from her face and her reactions.

The effects are unbelievably creepy and frightening. The imagery of the movie is horrific and mostly practical.

I do think the ending was not good. The last fifteen or twenty minutes felt truly more silly than most of the film and did drag down my feelings overall. Most of the movie was really good and creepy. It just did not finish well. However. Demi Moore should be recognized for an astounding performance.

3.8 stars

Brats

Next up on the Pre-Show 4F Binge is a documentary on Hulu that took a look back to the 1980s and a group of actors who had been dubbed as the Brat Pack.

One of the actors of the 1980s who had been included in the Brat Pack was Andrew McCarthy and McCarthy was the director and driving influence behind the documentary.

McCarthy was looking to discuss with the group of actors the feelings of the name of the Brat Pack and how it influenced their careers.

McCarthy traveled around to try and talk to the other “members” of the Brat Pack, including Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Jon Cryer, Leah Thompson. He tried to talk to Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson, but they seemed to rebut him not wanting to look back.

The term “Brat Pack” was dubbed in a magazine article about Emilio Estevez written by David Blum, and the actors really took the name negatively. One of my favorite parts of the doc was when McCarthy went and spoke to David Blum. There was a feel of tension between them and Blum was seemed very arrogant in this interview.

The discussion with Emilio Estevez was also amazing. He looked so much like his father during the interview that it was wild.

This was amazing as it felt like a big therapy session for Andrew McCarthy as he talked through his anxieties and memories of his past with others who could relate to the feelings that he was having.

I wouldn’t say that I was a big fan of any of these actors, but I found it utterly fascinating to watch how they worked through their own issues over a named given to them when they were young and hot actors and how the negative feel of it affected them.

3.7 stars