A few years ago, for Horror Homeroom, I wrote about how writer/director Coralie Fargeat reverses the male gaze in her rape/revenge debut Revenge. In the beginning of that film, Fargeat focuses the camera’s gaze on Jen (Matilida Anna Ingrid Lutz), the mistress of the uber wealthy Richard (Kevin Janssens), who rapes Jen not long into the runtime. Initially, the camera focuses on Jen’s legs, buttocks, and breasts, as she sucks a lollipop. This switches about halfway through the film, and not only does the gaze switch, but Jen becomes the hunter, ultimately unleashing hell upon Kevin for the brutality he inflicted upon her.

Fargeat’s latest feature, the excellent The Substance, again deals with issues of gender and the male gaze but expands that to include the beauty industry and how culture generally treats aging women, specifically celebrities. To stress that point from the outset, the movie opens with a Hollywood star just constructed on Hollywood Boulevard. It belongs to Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore. During the first few years of the star’s existence, people pose for pictures with it. Judging by their clothes, you can tell this it’s the 1980s, which was the start of Moore’s career as a Brat Pack member. As years go by, the star cracks. People walk by it. They spill stuff on it. They don’t recall who Sparkle is. Her celebrity has been reduced to a workout series, and she’s on the cusp of aging out of that, on her 50th bday.

As soon as the film’s first act, Elisabeth gets notification from a strange, anonymous company that she can take a product called “the substance” to essentially look younger again. She really, really wants this, since the powers that be booted her from her workout show, in order to find a younger, more attractive model/actress.

Unlike Revenge, The Substance is very much a body horror movie, and its practical effects are on par with the likes of The Fly, Basket Case, and other great body horror movies of the 1980s. When Elisabeth injects herself with the substance, she passes out on her bathroom floor. Her back splits open, and a younger version of herself appears named Sue (Margaret Qualley). Sue easily lands Elisabeth’s former job. Her face and body are plastered on billboards. She appears frequently in commercials and chats up late-night talk show hosts. She obtains everything Elisabeth once had.

The problem is that the more famous Sue becomes, the more Elisabeth ages. The two entities technically need each other to exist, but Sue takes and sucks more and more from Elisabeth, until she starts to look like a crone. Even prior to that, Fargeat uses lightening and make-up to make Moore look older, to make her skin look as cracked as Elisabeth’s Hollywood star.

The messages in Fargeat’s film are by no means subtle. The film serves up an all-out assault and critique on the beauty industry, the media, celebrity, and how older women are mistreated and even worse, forgotten by the culture that once loved them. Men in suits/bigwig TV execs always tell Sue and Elisabeth to smile more. The film has so many discomforting moments, reinforced by the frequent close-ups that Fargeat uses. The sound design is sometimes amped up too, especially to reinforce how loud and overbearing men in power can be.

Like Revenge, The Substance makes the male gaze obvious with frequent close-ups of Sue working out in front of the cameras, zooming in on her most intimate body parts, objectifying and sexualizing her. Yet, she also knows the power of her own body. She also craves the fame and sues her looks to obtain it.

Yet, what I found to be the most powerful moment isn’t one of the gross-out body horror sequences. Near the midway point, Elisabeth nearly goes on a date with an old classmate who still has a major crush on her and generally likes her. For nearly an hour, she stands in front of the mirror, messing with her make-up. She’s haunted by a massive billboard of Sue just outside of her swanky apartment’s window. Because she no longer feels attractive, Elisabeth never attends the date. It’s heartbreaking, and Moore is great throughout the film, but she’s especially brilliant in that particular scene.

While I don’t think The Substance will resonate with everyone, especially some of the body horror bits, Fargeat isn’t afraid to take some wild wings with her filmmaking. Moore is perfectly cast in this film about an aging celebrity deemed disposable by a celebrity culture that created her. Once again, Fargeat does a lot of interesting things with the camera and the gaze to reinforce points she wants to make about gender.

The Substance is currently in theaters. If you want to learn more about Fargeat’s work, check out this interview I conducted with her for Signal Horizon a few years ago.