And Win A Double Movie Pass to See The Substance
The Substance is a movie about a fading celebrity decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
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?
In her own words, the following is the rationale for her movie The Substance, by the writer, director, and editor of the movie, Coralie Fargeat.
“Women’s bodies. THE SUBSTANCE is a film about women’s bodies. About how women’s bodies are scrutinized, fantasized about, criticized in the public space. About how much, as women, we are led to believe that our only choice is to be perfect/sexy/smiling/thin/young/beautiful to be valued in society. And how impossible it is for women to escape this, no matter how educated, strong-minded and independent we may be…Because for more than 2000 years, women’s bodies have been shaped and controlled by the desires of those who were looking at them…
Everything around us, in commercials, movies, magazines, and displays showcases fantasized versions of ourselves. Always beautiful. And thin. And young. And sexy. The version of the “ideal woman” that is supposed to bring us love. Success. Happiness.
And if we step out of those boxes, whether it is with age, weight, curves… then society tells us:you’re done. We don’t want to see you anymore. We don’t want you on our screens. We don’t want you on the covers of our magazines. We will just erase you from the public space. You’re not worth society’s time and attention. It’s becoming even worse for young generations with social media..
And I strongly believe that this is our jail. A jail society has built around us that has become a massive instrument of control and domination. A jail we think we want for ourselves. And this movie is saying: it’s about time to blow all this up. Cause how come this shit is still going on in 2024?! I don’t know a single woman who doesn’t have a troubled relationship with her body, who hasn’t had an eating disorder at some point of her life, who hasn’t violently hated her body and herself because she didn’t look the way society told her to look.
When I was about to turn 40, I started to feel very depressed because I thought, ok this is the end.The end of my life. I won’t be able to please any more, I won’t be able to be valued, loved, noticed, interesting… At only 40, I was led to believe that my life was over… I studied political science; I am a feminist… And yet. This shit had still found a way to permeate my brain. I was absolutely convinced that past a certain age, I was going to be worth nothing. The exact same way that, when I was younger, I was absolutely convinced that if I was not thin and with a perfect body, I was worth nothing. Insane, no?
So I decided to write this film. To confront this. And to make a political statement to the world: we should be done with this shit. Genre films are political. For me as a filmmaker, they are a great way to confront political and personal matters through the lens of entertainment, fun, and excess. Leaning all the way into the excess, I want to free my inner monster. Or rather what society made me think was a monster: this imperfect/aging/changing part of myself that I was taught to hide because, as a “woman,” that’s not the way you’re supposed to look/behave/think. And that’s whyI’m coming to you with this story today.
It’s about playing with the destruction of women’s bodies to break free of those constraints that have been corseting women for so long. We’ve been told for so long to control and hold back. Let’s do the exact opposite. Bodies here are going to be tyrannized, ridiculed, destroyed, the same way I truly believe society destroys women with all the rules that we are silently taught to follow. This movie is going to be bloody gory.
And it’s going to be bloody funny at the same time. Because I don’t know any stronger weapon than satire to show the world the absurdity of its own rules. And most importantly: I believe it’s going to be bloody timely. This is what this movie is about in the end. A liberation. An empowerment.”
– Director: Coralie Fargeat
To be eligible to win one of 5 double passes to see The Substance, thanks to Madman Entertainment, Head to our Facebook page and tag a friend where you see our competition post for The Substance. The competition will end at midnight AEST 14 September.
In cinemas, September 19.
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