churning out unnecessary sequels, remakes, reboots, live action adaptation, and the never ending Marvel cinematic universe.

Fargeat is a bold visionary.

and disturb the audience.

The film is successfully disturbing. It achieved what it was meant to do, provoke our thoughts. That's fucking amazing in our time where Hollywood can no longer come up with original and novel plotlines. The American film industry has settled with

The ending was absurd because our society's obsession with youth and beauty is absurd.

Ironic as it may sound, I agree that The Substance will age well. After a few years, we will talk about Fargeat and her film. We will realize that she was not scared to hold up a mirror

bring a conclusion that is satisfying and acceptable to the audience.

Crazy is an understatement in describing the film's ending. It was grotesque and bloody. It was a brutal ending that led to some members of the audience to walk out the cinema.

But what I love the most about the film is that it was not afraid to finish what it started.

The film was not afraid to embrace the absurdity of it all. Unlike other recent films like Everything Everywhere All It Once, The Substance's ending was not made to

society. The film even managed to make a metaphor on Hollywood's newest craze: the miraculous Ozempic. Elisabeth Sparkle's younger and hotter version have to consistently inject herself with an extract harvested from Elisabeth's spine to keep her young.

is the one scolding Demi Moore's character, Elisabeth Sparkle, that she is already too old and ugly.

The director, Carolie Fargeat, who is a woman herself made sure that the audience will not miss the exaggerated male gaze in the film. Women are subjected to the intense misogyny and sexism of our

From a very young age, women are conditioned to eternally attempt to meet impossible beauty standards.

The same pressure is not forced onto men. We can see this with Dennis Quaid's character who despite having very visible signs of aging like wrinkles, crow's feet, smile lines, and yellowed teeth

disproportionately affects women. Women are the constant target of ads for make up, skin care products, diet plans, weight lost drugs, and cosmetic surgery.

Women are told that they only exist to satisfy men's pleasures. Women are objectified, sexualized, and commodified to meet the needs of men.

our insecurities. The film is a scathing critique of capitalism and how it sells this harmful idea that our worth as a person and a human being is tied to our youth and physical appearance.

The film is not shy about explicitly depicting that our society's obsession with staying young and hot

First and foremost, the film is a critique of capitalism. People who have watched the movie often come to the conclusion that the film's message is about learning to love yourself. But it's more than that.

The film is a critique of capitalism and how at its core, it wants to profit from