oh my gosh, you guys. i did 4 re-edits of this one, because i was continually getting demonetized for 'ad suitability' & after that fourth edit - this video is STILL demonetized, so please give this one some extra love engagement for my sanity if you can lmao
Cass!! I don’t know if you watch anime but I recommend watching Nana!!! It’s a show about two girls who share the same name, age, apartment, but are different when it comes to personalities. Nana (or also nicknamed as hachi/haciko which means the number eight in Japanese since nana means seven) is a hopeless romantic that meets Nana (the other one, who is a musician that is in a punk band) and the two quickly becomes best friends with a hint of romance between them. Nana (the whole show) is a wonderful enigma I recommend so much.
FINALLY SOMEONE WHO GETS WHAT THE MOVIE IS SAYING!! I have seen so many people not realizing Elizabeth and Sue are one. Elizabeth is addicted to being Sue and is putting all of her self hatred onto Elizabeth.
Here's the thing - and I'm not exaggerating when I say this - more than half of U.S. population is really dumb... When you see/meet a random person, your first assumption should always be that they're dumb, until/if proved otherwise. Seriously, we really underestimate how dumb an average person is.
I’m kind of agreeing with you. The catch is « you are one » It’s true but also not true. They are one, biologically. They came from the same cell and the same DNA. But they don’t have the same psyche, because psyche is built on how you feel, but also on how other’s looked at you. It was inevitable that Sue was going to hate Elizabeth.. ( sorry for my English, I hope it’s not too bad, I’m French 😅)
@ I think it’s « the lesson » of this movie. You can’t do nothing about aging. The younger self is just an illusion, you can’t control it, and youngsters are mostly mean to older people, like during the TV late show. It’s just a cruel way to discover that aging is not smtg you can fight against.
GIRL. Literally not 5 minutes ago I was on letterboxd and saw that you had seen it (and ranked it 5 stars) and I got the reaction vid instantly. Great service
OMG thank you so much for getting it and understanding the film. So many reactors miss the point of this movie and it's so refreshing to see someone actually understand the message. I shouldn't be surprised because your Buffy reactions are also insightful and amazing and that's how I found you.
Actually Margaret Qualley is Andie MacDowell’s daughter…and also Jack Antonoff’s wife. She recently played in the series « Maid » or the movie « Kinds of Kindness » (Among others). You also probably know her (indirectly) thanks to Lana Del Rey’s « Margaret ». The song is about her and Jack (Did You Know There is A Tunnel Under Ocean Bvd) 😊 Great reaction as always, btw !
Margaret Qualley is Jack Antonoff’s wife and Lana Del Rey’s song Margaret is based off of her and she’s also the daughter of famous actress Andie MacDowell
She destroys herself because she hates herself for failing to meet impossible expectations, and she doesn’t have anything else in her life to comfort her. She doesn’t seem to have any friends or family. Her work- her fame- has been her whole life and she doesn’t know how to let it go. I’m glad they gave her that hallucination at the end. They say people often hallucinate something comforting as they die. It’s a wild and crazy movie, but sadness is probably the most appropriate emotional reaction to it. So many of us- probably all of us, really- struggle so hard to accept the changing seasons of our lives, and death ever approaching.
I don't usually comment on reactor's vids, but I have to say, you're incredibly astute. You managed to decipher every significant movie symbolism/metaphor.
i love your reaction, you really took this movie seriously in terms of its ideas and your comments are, while simple, so on point. you actually express yourself much better than most people i talked to about this movie or saw react to it - and that is a lot of people. i really got emotional again even though i've watched bits of this movie so many times now that i've mostly become desenticized to it, i even teared up in the end watching the ending scene with you as if for the first time again
This is the first time I see that interpretation of the ending of the movie. I've never thought that for Elizabeth, going on with the substance was the way to get better and better and that she didn't realized the reason behind people's repulsion because she thought that "this must be what they wanted, right?". Really enjoyed your reaction to the movie! Greetings from Brazil! 🇧🇷
The problem with Elizabeth and Sue was they needed outside validation to feel good about themselves. Neither had any kind of life. Work was their life. And they wanted to work. Elizabeth could have had a wonderful life. But she wanted the attention that being on billboards brought. She wasn’t satisfied with a normal life. Not even at the end when she was terminating Sue. She still couldn’t let it go despite how much that life had taken from her. LOVE YOURSELF! Realize you are worth it. And if you have to hurt yourself for people to like you they aren’t people worth being liked by. 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️ Everyone worries about what they don’t have but they rarely stop to see what they DO have. It might not be a lot and it might not all be good but it’s all you got. Take care of yourself. YOU ARE ONE!
Godd it’s so nice to see a reactor who actually understands what the film is serving on a platter and then indulges further. Most reactions are people just squirming and completely missing the symbolism of the entire film. Thank you.
Really good reaction 😂 I love how you like. Literally predicted everything because I’ve already seen it. It’s kind of scary to me because I live by myself and I’m currently single and getting older. Watching Elisabeth and not even one person friend or family comes to visit her is really sad. And scary. 😢
I recently started thinking about the respective notes on the flowers -- the "were" and "going to." There's no present, no now. Everything is what you were and what you're going to be. Never what you are because what you are is never enough. I also keep thinking about how Sue only has part of a life. Elisabeth had a whole career -- she was an actress, she won an Oscar -- the exercise show was just what she settled for when the roles started drying up. Sue only has the exercise show; she doesn't even have a full name. (Side note: The director chose the name "Sue" because you have to purse your lips to say it and it looks like a kiss.) But Elisabeth still thinks Sue is the more worthwhile version of herself.
Thank you! Of all the reactions I've seen to this film it is insane to me how there aren't many who actually understand what is being said with this film. Your reaction (as always) was thoroughly entertaining, the number of times I talked back to my phone in agreement with the things you were saying is slightly worrying 😂. Hands down my favourite film of the year, deserves all the awards even down to the sound design, truly a masterpiece 👏 (just a shame the academy will overlook it because of the genre 🙄)
This is a crazy satirical body horror thriller film! I've watched 17-18 different reaction videos of the movie, and some reactors found it hilarious, gory and tragic.
36:47 Margaret Qualley, Jack Antonoff's wife, whom Lana Del Rey refers to in her song Margaret, from her album Did You Know Theres A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
I was able to watch this movie with a huge group of my college friends, and there were so many moments that just made us teary-eyed. The scene where Elizabeth was just rapidly scrubbing at her face, you could just feel her anxiety and stress. One of the many things I love about this movie is the fact of how almost every shot and piece of dialogue is symbolic of something: the gross dinner scene with the producer and the shellfish, the fact that the title "Pump it Up" is so much bolder than Sue's name, and like you mentioned, the saturation increase in Sue's life. In my eyes, I feel like the movie is an overall commentary on how society's eyes affect your own self-image and how people are willing to do almost anything to make themselves appealing to others. The producer is definitely about "indulgence", always thinking he deserves more and "better" and that he knows best. The product is always more important than the person. I couldn't possibly put an entire analysis in one comment lol. I just love this movie and thank you for reacting
The funniest part of this reaction: “Aw I love a snow globe. When I was younger I thought we lived in a snow globe ☃️😇” *smashes snow globe against wall* “okay 😐”
I honestly don't think i'll see another reaction as good as this when it comes to this movie, you perfectly understood this film and i love how much empathy you have.
Yeah, Sue and Elizabeth remember what the other one did when they were active. Yes, it was all the same person, the same mind, and yes, they (she) remembered everything. When she wakes up, she acts surprised that her younger self took too much, because in the moment, a person may not care at all about what will happen to them tomorrow and what the consequences for their life in the future may be, especially if at the moment they're high and want more (and you can say that Sue was high on being young and beautiful again). Hence all sorts of things like drinking, knowing full well that you'll be dying of a hangover tomorrow, or something like that. We've all experienced that, haven't we? "Hell, I drank too much yesterday, now I feel like shit and my whole body hurts, why was I so stupid and couldn't stop, I hate myself! I'm quitting drinking for good!" And the next week you're out partying and drinking like there's no tomorrow again, and whatever happens is my future self's problem. In the moment, now, at the time of getting high, a person's head is not really working the way it should and they don't care, it's fun right now, and whatever happens tomorrow is the problem of the other "me" in the future. And when that "tomorrow" comes, you sit in agony and curse your "yesterday" self. The problem is that there is no "yesterday" or "tomorrow" you. You are one, the voice on the phone keeps repeating, but Elizabeth doesn't listen. Your "today" self often keeps ruining the life of your "tomorrow" self while hating on your "yesterday" self at the same time. That's what happens when you don't love yourself, when you don't respect yourself, when you don't take care of yourself. But she's also living two different lives in two different bodies, so there's also a big deal of dissociation going on at the end, when she feels like a different person in different bodies, and her dissociation and hatred towards herself allowed for her to become physically split into two bodies at the same time. Anyway, yes, she remembers everything, but she deeply hates herself and dissociates from herself, so in the end there's no hope for her.
I loved your reaction, I've watched several but needed one with a woman's pov. I teared up in the theater as I squirmed almost the entire time because of the body horror. I loved you really got what is this movie about, and I'd like to add that more than the society's pressure with impossible beauty standards, the movie calls out men. First we see Elizabeth and her show is pretty much for the ladies, it still carries the misoginy that you have to have a certain kind of body to "look good" but when we get to Sue's show, it's all about the male gaze, which the movie confirms later with the ratings going up and the neighbour saying he watched the show. Also every mean comment about Elizabeth or another woman in the movie comes from a man, the only time we see a woman berating another is Sue talking about Elizabeth, to me this shows how the beauty standards end up making people hate themselves to the point of self-destruction. It's a great movie worth watching many times although it's really hard to watch.
Cass, this was such a fantastic reaction and in the words of Elisabeth Sparkle: "YOU GOT IT!" 🌟 You really understood the film and connected to the message on first watch, and that isn't knocking other reactors or general viewers who might have missed it, but you connected with it and shared your own relatable feelings and vulnerablities too, and that is very commendable and appreciated. I felt so sad for Monstro Elisasue at the end, crying on the floor... and for Elisabeth just the whole film tbh. It doesn't matter how beautiful we all think someone is, we all have our own warped image of ourselves through our experiences, insecurities and interactions in life unfortunately. Love from Scotland and to anyone reading this: remember, take care of yourselves 🏴💚
I see it as being about addiction. On the surface it’s about beauty standards but really I think basically she 1) got fired from her “life’s purpose”, 2) got in a car accident, and 3) has a lonely empty life and is confronted with all of that at the same time. She turns to the substance to try to solve the problem but it just emphasizes her self loathing by giving her a euphoria to compare her life to. As time goes on it wears her body down so she can’t go back to what she was even if she wanted, so she dives further into disassociating. They truly are one mind but the manic, euphoric version of herself is okay with stealing from the depressing version of herself because she feels like she’s not worth anything. Her turning point could have been through acceptance and community (by going on the date) but she ended up spiralling even more
Fun fact: Margaret Qualley who plays Sue, is the daughter of Andie MacDowell, a lovely and talented actress/model, who starred in 'sex, lies, and videotape', 'Ground Hog Day', 'Green Card' and numerous other films. Margaret is also the subject of the song 'Margaret' by Lana Del Rey, a much covered artist on this channel. As a long time admirer of Demi Moore, I thought she was just fine as she was and did not require any substance transformation. But this is definitely an emphatic statement on the way women in Hollywood are frequently discarded or relegated to secondary status as they age. The difference in the way Elisabeth and Sue are treated is indicative of such, as the older Elisabeth is being phased out in favor of the younger Sue. The film should definitely receive some Academy Award consideration for the extensive makeup and prosthetics used during the course of the movie. Margaret Qualley does have a dance background and it showed here. Really cool that Demi now has the distinction of working with both daughter Margaret and her mother Andie.
omg i'm so sorry about the re-edits! maybe you can distort the audio in the final edit? i see some channels do that but about this movie, it's so good. probably my favorite for 2024
i really like watching reactions for this movie. thank you for going thru the effort of re-editing. it was refreshing to see your sadness at seeing this film. i've seen too many reactions from men that just oogle Sue and miss the point entirely.
I knew you would understand this movie, and not be incredibly ignorant or disrespectful (granted, its mostly men who have horrible takes abt this movie) when it comes to the concept. The hard hitting social commentary combined with the insane body horror, makes this one of the most perfect films for me. The cinematography and directing is insane, i was not surprised to see it was directed by Coralie Fargeat, her movie Revenge (2017) is also very good.
Omg yess did not expect this! As someone who mainly watches your buffy reactions I'm so hyped for your reaction! This is my favorite movie of the year hands down
Once heard of a dating couple where a guy broke up with his girlfriend because she hated this movie. He on the other hand liked it and understood the plot quite well.
It's interesting how critical we are of ourselves even to the point of self-sabotage. This was like (other-)self-sabotage with a Fear and Loathing style of portraying vanity. It's a good movie but one I'd never want to see again lol.
I don't think insecurities or ageing issues be the whole point, I believe there's much more to it. I see it more as an ancient Greek tale, where the magical appearance of the substance as a tricky gift from the gods (there will be always a catch, something that will necessarily go wrong and allow tragedy to unfold) is a friendly reminder that no one (not even Olympian gods) can fight against decay, death and fate.
Loved your reaction!! Loved the commentary throughout!! Societal expectations+rules are deeply harsher on all women and cuts deeper when we get into intersectionality. Men often suffer from body dysmorphia that were involved in athletics or dance during boyhood. Gym junkies that workout for aesthetics over health…Wearing a bathing suit and society expecting abs (height/weight proportions). As a gay man, I even resonated with the films’ themes. Loved your commentary!! Loved the fashions i.e 🐉 robe+💛coat. Glad the algorithm did its thing to stumble across your channel. Deliciously disgusting this film is! It has style+substance🧪💉A social commentary on aging with body horror elements using practical effects, impeccable sound+editing. No amount of change will ever be enough to appease everyone much less undeserving, misogynistic men who do not actually appreciate women for who they are, but only how fckable they deem women to be. Sue represents the younger version of Elisabeth, still impressionable, full of faux confidence bc the patriarchy has beholden a woman’s value to beauty and youth, still fertile. Elisabeth chases her youth in the form of Sue much like someone that keeps running back to the plastic surgeon’s office. And there are consequences bc one begins to stray so far from their original appearance, dare I say monstrous. The greatest tenderness the character gives herself is when ElisaSue emerges and the greatest vacation she gives herself is the absence of a body for judgment. Just a mere amoeba with Elisabeth as the nucleus of the cell. The violence we put ourselves through comparing ourselves to our own younger version of ourselves when we look at pics of us a decade ago. We must be kinder to ourselves. I like that her yellow coat symbolized the egg in the beginning and then we see Sue wearing the coat to emphasize they are one post injection. *Outward beauty, but inner ugliness to thyself. The enemy is the inner me🩷🩷
exactly i am 27 as well about to be 28 and is crazy to already relate to this. like i imagine if girls at 25 are already feeling this way. or even sooner? i mean i feel like feeling old at 23 is dramatic but still. that said im not a women so that’s a whole another level but i am gay so the overconcern with age and beauty is real for us too.
The fact that it shows people excited about her star at the beginning posing with it with such 80’s hair and old cameras, nice touch. But then they did a passage of time with SNOW. Which, HELLO?! Sigh.
Kind of ironic the only time Elisabeth was happy with herself was when she turned herself into a monster with Monstro Elisasue being what epitomizes that.
An interesting juxtaposition to this film, the same sort of themes but from an AMAB perspective, coincidentally also released this year and is called A Different Man; check it out maybe?
I purposely went to the next town to see this film, having heard so much about it, Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are great in this, it made me sought out the Director's orther film before this called Revenge it's great too.
Tag 305 upside down EOS Elizabeth, Otherself, Sue. Sues blue dress is the same blue shade as the egg backdrop at the beginning Male nurse with arm mark shouldn’t have that imperfection, the substance should have erased it. Old nurse has the same mark, so possibly from care neglect from his young self…maybe be retaliated on his young self to even the score? Great film!
I loved the design of Elisasue. There was the breast coming out of the face and many more on her chest, the plump butt on her head (front and center like the entire movie), Elizabeth’s face on the back (mouth gaping in a silent scream), teeth on the chest in an immortal smile, and essential things like arms and eyes and ears willy nilly because they don’t matter. Truly a monster that the men in the story created. The director called her a “Picasso of male expectations”, which I kind of love.
At this point, I personally and "desensitized" to horror movies. But I don't watch them to be scared anyway. Rather simply because I enjoy them. And besides, I really good at deciphering fiction from reality. I can't even look if someone near me gets a cut.
This was like a super-freaky extended episode of "The Twilight Zone". If it's possible for a REAL fountain-of-youth drug to exist, we'll probably find out in the next decade. That's when Quantum computers are expected to be ready. They are expected to be so incredibly fast and powerful, that they will solve in just minutes, problems that would normally take millions of years. Star Trek is set at a time 250 years from now, but these computers will effectively flash-forward us to a level of technology millions of years beyond that. There was a 1970 book called "Future Shock". It sounds like, for better or worse, it's about to come true. 😬
Mubi is an underrated studio. If you're looking for the next film to watch from them, check out either How to Have Sex, The Fall, or Fallen Leaves (not in English but a great modern romance). You wont be disappointed.
I keep wondering why Elisabeth didn’t just wait longer than a week to switch back to Sue so Sue would face some repercussions and see how it feels. Elisabeth switched every 7 days when she was Elisabeth but Sue didn’t.
If people have trouble understanding the dual personality aspect of THE SUBSTANCE, they should think of the film as a feminist version of DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE. In the same way that Jekyll is ultimately taken over and destroyed by Hyde (who represents Jekyll's unfettered dark side), Elisabeth is taken over and destroyed by Sue (who represents Elisabeth's unfettered self-loathing).
Yo! From the way you describe your enjoyment of Black Swan and The Substance, you may be a fan of body horror. There's a lot of great films that fit into this genre. Typically progressive films as well
Personally I had a more hopeful takeaway from this movie. At the end, Elisasue had come to accept her appearance. Elisabeth couldn't even bring herself to go on a date with Fred, but Elisasue was all "meh, just find some ears somewhere" and went in front of 50 million viewers. That was the only time Harvey and the shareholders were actually afraid of her - once she was no longer viewing herself the way they viewed her. Unapologetically existing in comparison to her hiding away from the world earlier. Just my thoughts tho, I love watching all the other reactions and opinions.
oh my gosh, you guys. i did 4 re-edits of this one, because i was continually getting demonetized for 'ad suitability' & after that fourth edit - this video is STILL demonetized, so please give this one some extra love engagement for my sanity if you can lmao
Cass!! I don’t know if you watch anime but I recommend watching Nana!!! It’s a show about two girls who share the same name, age, apartment, but are different when it comes to personalities. Nana (or also nicknamed as hachi/haciko which means the number eight in Japanese since nana means seven) is a hopeless romantic that meets Nana (the other one, who is a musician that is in a punk band) and the two quickly becomes best friends with a hint of romance between them. Nana (the whole show) is a wonderful enigma I recommend so much.
Yes maam 🫡
Ok here's some love: doesn't it feel better when there's no money involved? Like "old youtube" just for everyone's fun? :)
you probably wont see this but I'd really appreciate if you could react to Ninja Assassin as your next movie reaction
Wow, 4 re-edits. Appreciate all of your hard work and really enjoy your channel.
this movieeeeeee >>>>>>>>
Hoping that Cass and Caitlin do a cross channel collab someday.
A horror movie or anything else.
Caitliiiiiiin
FINALLY SOMEONE WHO GETS WHAT THE MOVIE IS SAYING!! I have seen so many people not realizing Elizabeth and Sue are one. Elizabeth is addicted to being Sue and is putting all of her self hatred onto Elizabeth.
Here's the thing - and I'm not exaggerating when I say this - more than half of U.S. population is really dumb... When you see/meet a random person, your first assumption should always be that they're dumb, until/if proved otherwise. Seriously, we really underestimate how dumb an average person is.
I’m kind of agreeing with you. The catch is « you are one » It’s true but also not true. They are one, biologically. They came from the same cell and the same DNA. But they don’t have the same psyche, because psyche is built on how you feel, but also on how other’s looked at you. It was inevitable that Sue was going to hate Elizabeth.. ( sorry for my English, I hope it’s not too bad, I’m French 😅)
they don't share the same consciousness so what is Demi Moore gaining with all this stuff? That's a plothole to me. But the movie is good.
@ I think it’s « the lesson » of this movie. You can’t do nothing about aging. The younger self is just an illusion, you can’t control it, and youngsters are mostly mean to older people, like during the TV late show. It’s just a cruel way to discover that aging is not smtg you can fight against.
@@DirtyDayMix they do share same consciousness......
girl the way you predicted so much of this, YOUR MIND!! haha! the more I think about it and rewatch it, the more I just love this film!
GIRL. Literally not 5 minutes ago I was on letterboxd and saw that you had seen it (and ranked it 5 stars) and I got the reaction vid instantly. Great service
OMG thank you so much for getting it and understanding the film. So many reactors miss the point of this movie and it's so refreshing to see someone actually understand the message. I shouldn't be surprised because your Buffy reactions are also insightful and amazing and that's how I found you.
Actually Margaret Qualley is Andie MacDowell’s daughter…and also Jack Antonoff’s wife. She recently played in the series « Maid » or the movie « Kinds of Kindness » (Among others).
You also probably know her (indirectly) thanks to Lana Del Rey’s « Margaret ». The song is about her and Jack (Did You Know There is A Tunnel Under Ocean Bvd) 😊
Great reaction as always, btw !
She is also Pussycat, the hitchhiker hippie from "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"
Margaret Qualley is Jack Antonoff’s wife and Lana Del Rey’s song Margaret is based off of her and she’s also the daughter of famous actress Andie MacDowell
She has her own identity..... stop defining successful women by their husbands
She destroys herself because she hates herself for failing to meet impossible expectations, and she doesn’t have anything else in her life to comfort her. She doesn’t seem to have any friends or family. Her work- her fame- has been her whole life and she doesn’t know how to let it go. I’m glad they gave her that hallucination at the end. They say people often hallucinate something comforting as they die. It’s a wild and crazy movie, but sadness is probably the most appropriate emotional reaction to it. So many of us- probably all of us, really- struggle so hard to accept the changing seasons of our lives, and death ever approaching.
I don't usually comment on reactor's vids, but I have to say, you're incredibly astute. You managed to decipher every significant movie symbolism/metaphor.
i love your reaction, you really took this movie seriously in terms of its ideas and your comments are, while simple, so on point. you actually express yourself much better than most people i talked to about this movie or saw react to it - and that is a lot of people. i really got emotional again even though i've watched bits of this movie so many times now that i've mostly become desenticized to it, i even teared up in the end watching the ending scene with you as if for the first time again
The 45 minute drive to see this in theaters would've actually been worth it. It was the best theater experience I've ever had.
I'm so glad you understood the movie this well. I was crying at the end too.
This is the first time I see that interpretation of the ending of the movie. I've never thought that for Elizabeth, going on with the substance was the way to get better and better and that she didn't realized the reason behind people's repulsion because she thought that "this must be what they wanted, right?". Really enjoyed your reaction to the movie! Greetings from Brazil! 🇧🇷
The problem with Elizabeth and Sue was they needed outside validation to feel good about themselves. Neither had any kind of life. Work was their life. And they wanted to work. Elizabeth could have had a wonderful life. But she wanted the attention that being on billboards brought. She wasn’t satisfied with a normal life. Not even at the end when she was terminating Sue. She still couldn’t let it go despite how much that life had taken from her.
LOVE YOURSELF! Realize you are worth it. And if you have to hurt yourself for people to like you they aren’t people worth being liked by. 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
Everyone worries about what they don’t have but they rarely stop to see what they DO have. It might not be a lot and it might not all be good but it’s all you got. Take care of yourself. YOU ARE ONE!
Godd it’s so nice to see a reactor who actually understands what the film is serving on a platter and then indulges further. Most reactions are people just squirming and completely missing the symbolism of the entire film. Thank you.
with this movie in the theater I cried, I screamed, I laughed, I felt every possible feeling and I left the theater wanting to see the movie again
36:44 Margaret is the same woman from Lana's Ocean Blvd album!
Really good reaction 😂 I love how you like. Literally predicted everything because I’ve already seen it.
It’s kind of scary to me because I live by myself and I’m currently single and getting older.
Watching Elisabeth and not even one person friend or family comes to visit her is really sad. And scary. 😢
this movie desserves every award possible
I recently started thinking about the respective notes on the flowers -- the "were" and "going to." There's no present, no now. Everything is what you were and what you're going to be. Never what you are because what you are is never enough.
I also keep thinking about how Sue only has part of a life. Elisabeth had a whole career -- she was an actress, she won an Oscar -- the exercise show was just what she settled for when the roles started drying up. Sue only has the exercise show; she doesn't even have a full name. (Side note: The director chose the name "Sue" because you have to purse your lips to say it and it looks like a kiss.) But Elisabeth still thinks Sue is the more worthwhile version of herself.
Always love seeing you do movies. Appreciate how analytical you've always been
Thank you! Of all the reactions I've seen to this film it is insane to me how there aren't many who actually understand what is being said with this film. Your reaction (as always) was thoroughly entertaining, the number of times I talked back to my phone in agreement with the things you were saying is slightly worrying 😂.
Hands down my favourite film of the year, deserves all the awards even down to the sound design, truly a masterpiece 👏 (just a shame the academy will overlook it because of the genre 🙄)
This is a crazy satirical body horror thriller film!
I've watched 17-18 different reaction videos of the movie, and some reactors found it hilarious, gory and tragic.
i think this was the first reaction on youtube that felt like mine, this movie is so good but SO tragic! i got really teary-eyed at the ending too..
Fantastic reaction! This, for me, is the Nicky of the year and honestly in my top 5 of all time. It deserves all the praise it's getting.
36:47 Margaret Qualley, Jack Antonoff's wife, whom Lana Del Rey refers to in her song Margaret, from her album Did You Know Theres A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
I was able to watch this movie with a huge group of my college friends, and there were so many moments that just made us teary-eyed. The scene where Elizabeth was just rapidly scrubbing at her face, you could just feel her anxiety and stress.
One of the many things I love about this movie is the fact of how almost every shot and piece of dialogue is symbolic of something: the gross dinner scene with the producer and the shellfish, the fact that the title "Pump it Up" is so much bolder than Sue's name, and like you mentioned, the saturation increase in Sue's life.
In my eyes, I feel like the movie is an overall commentary on how society's eyes affect your own self-image and how people are willing to do almost anything to make themselves appealing to others. The producer is definitely about "indulgence", always thinking he deserves more and "better" and that he knows best. The product is always more important than the person. I couldn't possibly put an entire analysis in one comment lol.
I just love this movie and thank you for reacting
The funniest part of this reaction:
“Aw I love a snow globe. When I was younger I thought we lived in a snow globe ☃️😇”
*smashes snow globe against wall*
“okay 😐”
Amazing reaction to this movie. Love the analysis you did at the end. You gave the respect this movie and the message I agree with
36:46 I saw Margaret Qualley in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" as Pussycat, the hitchhiker hippie.
I honestly don't think i'll see another reaction as good as this when it comes to this movie, you perfectly understood this film and i love how much empathy you have.
Yeah, Sue and Elizabeth remember what the other one did when they were active. Yes, it was all the same person, the same mind, and yes, they (she) remembered everything.
When she wakes up, she acts surprised that her younger self took too much, because in the moment, a person may not care at all about what will happen to them tomorrow and what the consequences for their life in the future may be, especially if at the moment they're high and want more (and you can say that Sue was high on being young and beautiful again).
Hence all sorts of things like drinking, knowing full well that you'll be dying of a hangover tomorrow, or something like that. We've all experienced that, haven't we?
"Hell, I drank too much yesterday, now I feel like shit and my whole body hurts, why was I so stupid and couldn't stop, I hate myself! I'm quitting drinking for good!"
And the next week you're out partying and drinking like there's no tomorrow again, and whatever happens is my future self's problem.
In the moment, now, at the time of getting high, a person's head is not really working the way it should and they don't care, it's fun right now, and whatever happens tomorrow is the problem of the other "me" in the future.
And when that "tomorrow" comes, you sit in agony and curse your "yesterday" self.
The problem is that there is no "yesterday" or "tomorrow" you. You are one, the voice on the phone keeps repeating, but Elizabeth doesn't listen.
Your "today" self often keeps ruining the life of your "tomorrow" self while hating on your "yesterday" self at the same time. That's what happens when you don't love yourself, when you don't respect yourself, when you don't take care of yourself.
But she's also living two different lives in two different bodies, so there's also a big deal of dissociation going on at the end, when she feels like a different person in different bodies, and her dissociation and hatred towards herself allowed for her to become physically split into two bodies at the same time.
Anyway, yes, she remembers everything, but she deeply hates herself and dissociates from herself, so in the end there's no hope for her.
the fact that the last scene made you sad and teary eyed proves you UNDERSTOOD the movie and what was really going on
This movie made me gag so many times, but it was also weirdly endearing. Your commentary was spot-on to how I felt too
I loved your reaction, I've watched several but needed one with a woman's pov. I teared up in the theater as I squirmed almost the entire time because of the body horror. I loved you really got what is this movie about, and I'd like to add that more than the society's pressure with impossible beauty standards, the movie calls out men. First we see Elizabeth and her show is pretty much for the ladies, it still carries the misoginy that you have to have a certain kind of body to "look good" but when we get to Sue's show, it's all about the male gaze, which the movie confirms later with the ratings going up and the neighbour saying he watched the show. Also every mean comment about Elizabeth or another woman in the movie comes from a man, the only time we see a woman berating another is Sue talking about Elizabeth, to me this shows how the beauty standards end up making people hate themselves to the point of self-destruction. It's a great movie worth watching many times although it's really hard to watch.
You’re always so insightful and genuine fr great vid as always!
yaaay i’ve been waiting for your reaction to this one!!
Cass, this was such a fantastic reaction and in the words of Elisabeth Sparkle: "YOU GOT IT!" 🌟
You really understood the film and connected to the message on first watch, and that isn't knocking other reactors or general viewers who might have missed it, but you connected with it and shared your own relatable feelings and vulnerablities too, and that is very commendable and appreciated.
I felt so sad for Monstro Elisasue at the end, crying on the floor... and for Elisabeth just the whole film tbh. It doesn't matter how beautiful we all think someone is, we all have our own warped image of ourselves through our experiences, insecurities and interactions in life unfortunately.
Love from Scotland and to anyone reading this: remember, take care of yourselves 🏴💚
I see it as being about addiction. On the surface it’s about beauty standards but really I think basically she 1) got fired from her “life’s purpose”, 2) got in a car accident, and 3) has a lonely empty life and is confronted with all of that at the same time. She turns to the substance to try to solve the problem but it just emphasizes her self loathing by giving her a euphoria to compare her life to. As time goes on it wears her body down so she can’t go back to what she was even if she wanted, so she dives further into disassociating. They truly are one mind but the manic, euphoric version of herself is okay with stealing from the depressing version of herself because she feels like she’s not worth anything. Her turning point could have been through acceptance and community (by going on the date) but she ended up spiralling even more
Great reaction 😎looking forward to the next reaction 😎
i loooove how sensitive you are, bc i’m the same, i feel you
Love all the things you pick it up from the movie, love your reaction ❤
YAYY can’t believe ur reacting to this!! so excited :)))
I have watched like 10 reactions to this and yours is by far the best so far
Fun fact: Margaret Qualley who plays Sue, is the daughter of Andie MacDowell, a lovely and talented actress/model, who starred in 'sex, lies, and videotape', 'Ground Hog Day', 'Green Card' and numerous other films. Margaret is also the subject of the song 'Margaret' by Lana Del Rey, a much covered artist on this channel.
As a long time admirer of Demi Moore, I thought she was just fine as she was and did not require any substance transformation. But this is definitely an emphatic statement on the way women in Hollywood are frequently discarded or relegated to secondary status as they age. The difference in the way Elisabeth and Sue are treated is indicative of such, as the older Elisabeth is being phased out in favor of the younger Sue.
The film should definitely receive some Academy Award consideration for the extensive makeup and prosthetics used during the course of the movie. Margaret Qualley does have a dance background and it showed here. Really cool that Demi now has the distinction of working with both daughter Margaret and her mother Andie.
omg i'm so sorry about the re-edits! maybe you can distort the audio in the final edit? i see some channels do that
but about this movie, it's so good. probably my favorite for 2024
“We just free-bleed mountains of blood” 😂😂
i really like watching reactions for this movie. thank you for going thru the effort of re-editing. it was refreshing to see your sadness at seeing this film. i've seen too many reactions from men that just oogle Sue and miss the point entirely.
The Elephant Man meets Sunset Blvd. favorite movie of the year.
I knew you would understand this movie, and not be incredibly ignorant or disrespectful (granted, its mostly men who have horrible takes abt this movie) when it comes to the concept. The hard hitting social commentary combined with the insane body horror, makes this one of the most perfect films for me. The cinematography and directing is insane, i was not surprised to see it was directed by Coralie Fargeat, her movie Revenge (2017) is also very good.
Well I was off to bed but I guess we're doing this now 🤷♂️
“It could’ve warned us to lay down” 😂
Omg yess did not expect this!
As someone who mainly watches your buffy reactions I'm so hyped for your reaction! This is my favorite movie of the year hands down
my favourite reaction channel!
Watching to appreciate your blur efforts
Once heard of a dating couple where a guy broke up with his girlfriend because she hated this movie. He on the other hand liked it and understood the plot quite well.
what a great reaction.. i really enjoyed it. thumps up !
1st time viewer here. i enjoyed your reaction and discourse above all of the reactions ive seen.
It's interesting how critical we are of ourselves even to the point of self-sabotage. This was like (other-)self-sabotage with a Fear and Loathing style of portraying vanity.
It's a good movie but one I'd never want to see again lol.
this was more interesting than the movie itself for me, great reaction thank you
I don't think insecurities or ageing issues be the whole point, I believe there's much more to it. I see it more as an ancient Greek tale, where the magical appearance of the substance as a tricky gift from the gods (there will be always a catch, something that will necessarily go wrong and allow tragedy to unfold) is a friendly reminder that no one (not even Olympian gods) can fight against decay, death and fate.
20:11 "i think you learned your lesson now" oh, honey...
Saw this in theaters, very good movie. Hope this comment helps with engagement.
Loved your reaction!! Loved the commentary throughout!! Societal expectations+rules are deeply harsher on all women and cuts deeper when we get into intersectionality. Men often suffer from body dysmorphia that were involved in athletics or dance during boyhood. Gym junkies that workout for aesthetics over health…Wearing a bathing suit and society expecting abs (height/weight proportions). As a gay man, I even resonated with the films’ themes. Loved your commentary!! Loved the fashions i.e 🐉 robe+💛coat. Glad the algorithm did its thing to stumble across your channel.
Deliciously disgusting this film is! It has style+substance🧪💉A social commentary on aging with body horror elements using practical effects, impeccable sound+editing. No amount of change will ever be enough to appease everyone much less undeserving, misogynistic men who do not actually appreciate women for who they are, but only how fckable they deem women to be.
Sue represents the younger version of Elisabeth, still impressionable, full of faux confidence bc the patriarchy has beholden a woman’s value to beauty and youth, still fertile. Elisabeth chases her youth in the form of Sue much like someone that keeps running back to the plastic surgeon’s office. And there are consequences bc one begins to stray so far from their original appearance, dare I say monstrous.
The greatest tenderness the character gives herself is when ElisaSue emerges and the greatest vacation she gives herself is the absence of a body for judgment. Just a mere amoeba with Elisabeth as the nucleus of the cell.
The violence we put ourselves through comparing ourselves to our own younger version of ourselves when we look at pics of us a decade ago. We must be kinder to ourselves.
I like that her yellow coat symbolized the egg in the beginning and then we see Sue wearing the coat to emphasize they are one post injection.
*Outward beauty, but inner ugliness to thyself. The enemy is the inner me🩷🩷
Perfect reaction to this new body horror masterpiece
exactly i am 27 as well about to be 28 and is crazy to already relate to this. like i imagine if girls at 25 are already feeling this way. or even sooner? i mean i feel like feeling old at 23 is dramatic but still. that said im not a women so that’s a whole another level but i am gay so the overconcern with age and beauty is real for us too.
The fact that it shows people excited about her star at the beginning posing with it with such 80’s hair and old cameras, nice touch. But then they did a passage of time with SNOW. Which, HELLO?! Sigh.
Do you really think that in the movie where every thing is very intentional, snow in LA is some random goof?
This movie is awesome! Also big fan of MUBI, its got great foreign films
My takeaway from this is to always love yourself
Great reaction!
Kind of ironic the only time Elisabeth was happy with herself was when she turned herself into a monster with Monstro Elisasue being what epitomizes that.
instant classic 🤷🏻😭 also check out emilia perez!
An interesting juxtaposition to this film, the same sort of themes but from an AMAB perspective, coincidentally also released this year and is called A Different Man; check it out maybe?
Fantastic movie
I purposely went to the next town to see this film, having heard so much about it, Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are great in this, it made me sought out the Director's orther film before this called Revenge it's great too.
Tag 305 upside down EOS
Elizabeth, Otherself, Sue.
Sues blue dress is the same blue shade as the egg backdrop at the beginning
Male nurse with arm mark shouldn’t have that imperfection, the substance should have erased it. Old nurse has the same mark, so possibly from care neglect from his young self…maybe be retaliated on his young self to even the score? Great film!
I loved the design of Elisasue. There was the breast coming out of the face and many more on her chest, the plump butt on her head (front and center like the entire movie), Elizabeth’s face on the back (mouth gaping in a silent scream), teeth on the chest in an immortal smile, and essential things like arms and eyes and ears willy nilly because they don’t matter. Truly a monster that the men in the story created.
The director called her a “Picasso of male expectations”, which I kind of love.
I am still procesding this movie. It is original, the cast gave stellar performances. I think it went over the top the last half hour.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I had died 59 times when I finished the movie, I loved this movie so much
At this point, I personally and "desensitized" to horror movies. But I don't watch them to be scared anyway. Rather simply because I enjoy them. And besides, I really good at deciphering fiction from reality. I can't even look if someone near me gets a cut.
you know margaret qualley from Lana Del Rey’s song Margaret ☺️☺️ she’s jack antonoffs wife!
My favorite movie of the year
this perfect ass video to a perfect ass movie
love how you just have the plot in the middle of the movie haha
also, i'm also 27 years old and it's incredible how we can feel like that in just this age
Also: "This is what my mental breakdowns feels like" was hilarious 😅
This was like a super-freaky extended episode of "The Twilight Zone". If it's possible for a REAL fountain-of-youth drug to exist, we'll probably find out in the next decade. That's when Quantum computers are expected to be ready. They are expected to be so incredibly fast and powerful, that they will solve in just minutes, problems that would normally take millions of years. Star Trek is set at a time 250 years from now, but these computers will effectively flash-forward us to a level of technology millions of years beyond that. There was a 1970 book called "Future Shock". It sounds like, for better or worse, it's about to come true. 😬
lol it gave me a crisis for sure. I haven't had any other movie hit me quite like this one.
Mubi is an underrated studio. If you're looking for the next film to watch from them, check out either How to Have Sex, The Fall, or Fallen Leaves (not in English but a great modern romance). You wont be disappointed.
Nice reaction and discussion.. You are intelligent 🤓
I keep wondering why Elisabeth didn’t just wait longer than a week to switch back to Sue so Sue would face some repercussions and see how it feels. Elisabeth switched every 7 days when she was Elisabeth but Sue didn’t.
Dennis Quaid plays himself 💀
Thanks for the video!! See you later!! Stay safe.😊
If people have trouble understanding the dual personality
aspect of THE SUBSTANCE, they should think of the film
as a feminist version of DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE.
In the same way that Jekyll is ultimately taken over and
destroyed by Hyde (who represents Jekyll's unfettered
dark side), Elisabeth is taken over and destroyed by Sue
(who represents Elisabeth's unfettered self-loathing).
for such a small channel you have a nice intro
Yo!
From the way you describe your enjoyment of Black Swan and The Substance, you may be a fan of body horror. There's a lot of great films that fit into this genre. Typically progressive films as well
I suggest you watch the film Birth (2004), it´s an interesting mystery drama; I´d like to see your reaction to it.
Death Becomes Her is one of my favorites! Did you do a review?
I clicked so fast!!!
Personally I had a more hopeful takeaway from this movie. At the end, Elisasue had come to accept her appearance. Elisabeth couldn't even bring herself to go on a date with Fred, but Elisasue was all "meh, just find some ears somewhere" and went in front of 50 million viewers. That was the only time Harvey and the shareholders were actually afraid of her - once she was no longer viewing herself the way they viewed her. Unapologetically existing in comparison to her hiding away from the world earlier. Just my thoughts tho, I love watching all the other reactions and opinions.