The Substance (2024)

October Challenge Day 6:

My friends and family were so excited to see this film. So the group of us headed over to the movie theater I once worked at and piled into the seats. 

Let's talk about:

The Substance

So all I knew about this film, walking in, was it was about women aging. That's about it. 

I love walking into films blind!

Here we have a starlet who's feeling time taking a toll on her mind, body, career, and soul.  Much of chaos that ensues could have been avoided if it weren't for toxic patriarchy and self esteem battles. But that wouldn't make for a great horror film. 

Throughout the film I kept chuckling about my own aging process. How wild it was that in my stupid youth (because youth is wasted on the young) I was free in my not fully developed frontal lobe, loving the world and making it through life on my own, working as a ticket taker at a movie theater. 

I had to hold back a chuckle when I ordered a drink at the concession stand when I told the staff, excitedly, "I used to work here, 27 years ago!?". Guess what, no body cared. No Body Cared lolololololololololo

Funny how those 27 years went by so quickly though. In the bathroom there I took a good look at my face in the mirrors I used to once wash while wearing my little theater uniform and bowtie.... I'm pretty alright with how things turned out. 

I think that's the point of the film, to a significant degree. Being okay with saying goodbye to who you were, appreciating where you're at, and having a good laugh and cry at all the time that was wasted (and not wasted). It goes much deeper than that but this is a conversation starter. 

This film is also a spectacular gory blood bath. Even this hardened horror fan had to look a way for a minute to two. Body horror all the way! And by the end, there was such a blood fiasco that I just ended up laughing out loud. Nearly all of us did.

Something my brother and I noticed were all the tributes to classic horror films and the art of practical effects throughout this film.  Let me know how many tributes you found! 

With this film floating between eras and ages, I couldn't stop thinking about how disgusting and beautiful it all was. Almost as if it was a heartache. A woman's heartache.

So I personally loved this film and looking forward to seeing it again. Chef's kiss.

I watched this film in the theater. Use the Find It! Watch It! links on Horror Habit's side bar to see where else you might be able to find this GORY feature.