I went into this completely blind, and I hadn't even seen a trailer for it yet. All I knew was it's supposed to be 'disgusting' and hard to sit through, so that was enough to make me curious. The story was completely bizzare, and it followed an aging TV host of a workout routine show as she was recently fired due to her age. Depressed, she found an order for an item called The Substance, supposedly able to find the younger version of you that has 'always been inside of you'. Once used, she births a second being of herself known as Sue, much younger and hotter according to the standards of her workplace. Things get out of hand as the balance between Sue and Elizabeth are not respected (won't give away what this means due to spoilers), and soon there comes a choice that needs to be made, or so I thought anyways. The ending seemed to be heading one direction, when in actuality it took the hardest left turn possible and left me speechless. This film was the definition of disgusting, and I don't even attribute it to the relentless gore at the end. The only way to describe the gross scenes is 'food horror', something I have never seen in my life and it truly was revolting. The story itself with the messages on self worth, balance, and acceptance were done really well, and the addition of the food and body horror really made this movie a unique experience. Nothing about this film was cliche, including the dialogue, and the camera shots were very Stanley Kubrick-like and I was here for it. The main locations of each scene looked off every time, and nothing in the film looks like something I would find in real life, which added to the mess at the end. I do want to state that this movie was icky and gross and messy in a good way, and I do highly recommend everyone watches it and sees the genius of the story and the fresh horror ideas, even if it will make you gag at certain points.
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