Film comments 2024: Lady parts

 

Film comments 2024: Lady parts

For films that talked about lady parts, there was none moreso than Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Poor Things’.  If at first it seemed dangerously close to a male fantasy of creating and maltreating a child-woman, riffing on ‘Frankenstein’ and classic picaresque, it soon became apparent that this is not a ‘Weird Science’ fantasy but more musing on nature and nurture. Ditching the unreliable narrator element of Alasdair Gray’s novel, among other aspects, it offered a romp through the picaresque – also overlong, which is a feature of the form – with a feminist slant. Although I had friends that thought Emma Stone was mostly just over-acting instead of good – which I didn’t wholly agree with – there was much to the aesthetic and execution that was undeniably great, a full feast.  

And from “Goth ‘Barbie’” to “Gore ‘Barbie’”, Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ proved to be the essential winning shock to the year’s worthy cinema. It is true that I couldn’t help but have reservations as I had with Fargeat’s debut ‘Revenge’ – what I saw as a certain carelessness with detail that shortchanged all that was good – but there was no denying its triumph of being a crossover body-horror success with scrungy B-movie basis and A-movie gloss. 

Zelda Williams’ ‘Lisa Frankenstein’ also played with body horror and female perspective, but it was ultimately an airless warm-and-fuzzy Eighties homage rather than insightful (you’d have to go to ‘I saw the TV Glow’ for a homage with a real emotional charge).

 And body-horror was also a feature of female expression in Rose Glass’ ‘Love Lies Bleeding’, but that was just one Tokyo Drift that its erotic thriller basis took, having already integrated an ugly Ed Harris mullet, buff lesbian bodybuilding, drugs, modern American Noir and Gothic, obsession, and moments of superviolence. Its genre play and overcooked ingredients all held together successfully by pure vibe, with a finale akin to ‘The Substance’. But here, the feeling was that it got crazier and more surreal as things heated up and desperation sets in.

Certainly it was a more successful Coen-esque potboiler than Ethan Coen’s own ‘Drive-Away Dolls’, which was cartoonish to the point of diverting-without-substance. It shared a similar premise of two women in love on the wrong side of the law, and I enjoyed it more than most, sensing from the start that it wasn’t going to need much investment, but it melted away where ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ gathered more respect in retrospect.

Similarly, ‘Bottoms’ didn’t quite hit the nerve of Emma Seligman’s previously delicious ‘Shiva Baby’, however spiky it was, mostly because it ultimately turned to a more conventional mode, forsaking much of its edginess and satirisation of the high school genre to something predictable.

Like ‘The Substance’, Ozgood Perkins’ ‘Longlegs’ was another film that I felt out of step with the general consensus. It was all centred on the trauma of Agent Lee Harker (an appealingly offbeat Maika Monroe) … to a contrived degree. Brilliantly directed but upon reflection, I was unconvinced, excellent direction in my book requiring attention to details that I felt ‘Longlegs’ lacked. Even if it absorbed a full throttle Nicolas Cage performance without losing focus, there were too many non sequiturs and an underachieving finale.

As often happens, two similar genre pieces came out around the same time; this time there were a couple of nunsploitation horrors. ‘The First Omen’ proved surprisingly stylish and better than expected although it ended up petering out. Needed more convoluted death set-pieces. ‘

'Immaculate’ took the opposite approach, apparently just shrugging and deciding, “Fuck it! Let’s go bonkers for no reason for the last act.” And horror fans were sated at the outrageousness and bad taste.Looks good, swiftly jogs through its predictable beats (oh, “catacombs” you say?), has a series of knowing performances and Sydney Sweeney gives it her all, from piousness to mania. Gleefully goes through its tropes and archetypes until revealing itself to be an entertaining slice of schlock. Again, for religion, a woman’s body is the battleground and ornate ceremony is the curtain of respectability. Moving through nunsploitation, superficial jump-scare horror, a pretence of po-facedness, nightmare sequences, a little mad scientist and Final Girl action, it’s the final movement that delivers its true worth. Horror fans will be rewarded the wait and left smiling.

Ti West’s ‘MaXXXine’ ended the Pearl & Maxine trilogy with the least surprising, least satisfying instalment. ‘Pearl’ had promised something that would make this trilogy a modern horror classic, but it turned out all the dangerous stuff was already used up and the narcissism that made Maxine such a promising horror narcissist-sociopath was subsumed under an admittedly enjoyable Eighties-and-giallo recreation but an average conclusion.

Rather, it was JT Mollner’s ‘Strange Darling’ that offered up the danger. Told in six chapters but out of order, which means we get sensory and action overload up front before setting in for long two-hander flirting – “Are you a serial killer?” And then the revelations… Willa Fitzgerald is exceptional with Kyle Gallner more than her match. The 35mm thriller colour scheme, the abrasive then seductive sound design, the dialogue, the hints of something retro, all go to make this smart, fun, funny, upsetting but ultimately a hugely entertaining thrill ride with a little something to say about gender roles. Even makes room for making breakfast being a highlight.

While ‘Strange Darling’ was strictly rollercoaster genre fare and therefore one step removed from reality, a film like Elric Kane’s ‘The Dead Thing’ offered up a more a nuanced inquiry into modern feminine identity. It’s true that many didn’t think this gelled and just bored, but from the languid pace I found an interesting ghost story about the modern malaise of urban hook-up culture. Blu Hunt gives an assured turn as a woman who turns to fleeting sexual encounters to alleviate her dislocation and depression, leading to lust-motivated hauntings. Putting all-encompassing desire at the forefront of motivation gives this its quirk and the atmosphere is of a dreamy urban ambience.

Emma Benestan’s ‘Animale’ had another fascinating female character: she’s a bull runner that isn’t butch or competing with the machismo, but just trying to be a part of what she sees and wants. It's the slow burn that draws you in with Oulaya Amamra’s soft-and-tough performance riveting from the start. The measured world-building allows the etching of the community and character to soak in. If it ends up being more obvious than promised, not realising that it need not be, it is nevertheless fascinating, exhibiting a sure hand and sense of place and culture in the Carmague region bull running context. And what to do with a bull running woman, eh men?

Michael Sarnoski’s ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’, ‘Broken Bird’ and ‘Magpie’  all offered interesting female leads, if not quite wholly successful: the first replacing action with the maudlin; the second having tonal problems until reaching a decent Gothic finale; the last reaching only Get-‘em-girl! cliches. And there was plenty of Final Girl Kick Ass action from the likes of ‘Azrael’ and ‘The Bitter Taste’ , but even better were the historical revenge dramas ‘The Last Ashes’ and even Stone Age ‘Outof Darkness’ that delivered more tricksy and thoughtful contemplations on female violence.

But it was ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max saga’ that delivered the full-throttle raw and thoughtful female-led drama, despite stretching across Furiosa’s coming-of-age. In fact, that this and ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ both rage against toxic masculinity whilst delivering the very petrolhead action you came for are their exemplary achievements. 

But it was ‘Smile2’ that proved the surprise in its slippery structure, devotion to failing reality and empathic examination of celebrity. Its smarts and nuance meant it convinced me on the subject far more than ‘The Substance’: not as delirious or delightful, but there was proper meat on the bone.

But it was Pascal Plante’s ‘Red Rooms’ that felt truly dangerous. There are films where you feel you’ve gone deep in the hole, where you feel you might have been where you shouldn’t, and this is one of them. Juliette Gariépy’s performance became increasingly brilliant as the plot unfolded. Compelling, morally murky/challenging, a brilliantly structured thriller where what? and why? slides into WTF?! without ever fully answering any of that, never being quite what you think.

FrightFest Halloween 2024

FrightFest Halloween 2024

It’s funny how you slip into that film festival routine so quickly – eating improperly, snacking, recognising faces, seeing friends, etc. This year, as some of us retreat to the big screen for genre treats, outside they are turning the middle of Leicester Square into Paddington Bear Promotional Peru – and perhaps I am mistaken, but it seems especially busy.

To the films…

Sam Yates’ ‘Magpie’ is a slick, well presented anti-toxic masculinity revenge thriller, but one that doesn’t seem to think we’ve caught on long before the revelation.

 

Isaac Ezban’s ‘Parvulos’ has a similar structural flaw: it is too long and feels it because it doesn’t quite know how to place its beats. There are also tonal instabilities that throw you out a little (no zombie sex in front of the kids, please) and a little queasy quirk about vaccines. Three brothers trying to survive the apocalypse: the young actors give it all; the aesthetic is so washed out it’s often black and white; there’s some nice casual build-up, but it’s all increasingly a little bitty. You can tell it is heartfelt, which seems to make a blindspot to its deficiencies, but it meanders along long enough for the audience to notice.  The aesthetic and the central horror of potential starvation do a lot to make this memorable, but if you’re bored of zombies this won’t change your mind. 

 

Airell Anthony Hayles ‘Advent’ has an inspiration that’s more troubling than anything the film offers (The Blue Whale Challenge). It lacks the imagination to exploit its limited household claustrophobia, or to go for jump-scares, or to make the challenges surprising or disturbing, or to fill the short running time with interest.

Guido ​​Tölke’s ‘A Bitter Taste’ also suffers from being too long and tempo issues: it dives straight in and veers between beautiful visuals and the kind of over-editing that hints at desperate amateurishness. It’s not amateurish, but it is messy and lacks a focus and pace that would make this fun. It has a giallo flavouring, and the wild body-horror of the finale almost makes it worthwhile, but it’s exhausting rather than amusing.

I was probably expecting ‘Alien Country’ to be a little ‘Mars Attacks’, which it isn’t, but it’s funny and goofy. Obviously in love with its Utah Small Town Americana, it’s K.C. Clyde’s natural funnyman charm that holds it all together while peppered with small winning gags (“Chase mixtape”; “Zombies – this far North?”; cops discussing bakery). Endearing.

Yusron Fuadi ‘The Draft!’ is generically stumbling along it’s tropes, when suddenly its title makes sense and opens up a host of meta-gags. Even the score set to “overkill” and a gag reel make sense in context. Surprisingly smart and amusing.

Chris Reading’s ‘Time Travel is Dangerous’ is winningly funny from the start – two slightly daft and self-obsessed vintage shop owners use time-travel to stock their store – but gets lost in a story that takes a less interesting, more self-obsessed and less funny inter-dimensional story. It's "How did we end up here?", but in a way that squanders interest.

Any seasoned horror fan will get where this is going from the opening credits collage. Teddy Grennan’s ‘Catch a Killer’ makes for a thriller whose stylishness belies its B-genre concept, but it’s slick, entertaining, very enjoyable and hosts a great central performance from Sam Brooks. And for once, the romance feels worthwhile rather than performative. I for one appreciate the swiftness of the ending as opposed to a originally conceived protracted showdown that would have highlighted more problematic elements.

It's the slow burn of Emma Benestan’s ‘Animale’ that draws you in with Oulaya Amamra’s soft-and-tough performance riveting from the start. The slow burn allows the etching of the community and character to soak in. If it ends up being more obvious than promised, not realising that it need not be, it is nevertheless fascinating, exhibiting a sure hand and sense of place and culture in the Carmague region bull running context. And what to do with a bull running woman, eh men?

 

So it's the back-end selection that proved most rewarding.

 Performances of the festival: 

• Oulaya Amamra ~ 'Animale'
• Sam Brooks ~ 'Catch a Killer'
• K.C. Clyde ~ 'Alien Country'

 
 
 

The Substance

The Substance

Writer & Director ~ Coralie Fargeat

2024, UK-France

Stars ~ Margaret Qualley, Demi Moore, Dennis Quaid

 

(This first section is a reprint of my original FrightFest review.)

 

Broad of satire, unconvincing of detail, full of glorious excess, ‘The Substance’ is an EC Comic horror full of crowd-pleasing absurdity – an extended ‘Creepshow’ tale. If I went in perhaps expecting Cronenberg-lite, in fact the callbacks were to ‘Society’, ‘Basket Case’ and even ‘TerrorVision’, the early films of Stuart Gordon; those grungy, silly, outrageousness, flabbergasting films that were the Eighties output of Empire Pictures and Troma. Surely Cannes can’t be as familiar with this output as the FrightFest audience and had never quite seen something like ‘The Substance’, therefore giving it awards.

 

My friend called it “Gore Barbie” and that seems to me a thoroughly succinct summary.

 

Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley look gorgeous and give it their all, and there is much amusement in the battle between youth and aging here, even if it never addresses the subjects of narcissism. The film’s call for kindness to yourself across the ages is a sincerely felt one, although the audience was baying with laughter at the inter-generational fight made flesh. Also, despite how much the film insists, they never feel like the same person, as “one”. It is as brilliant as it is stupid.

 

The opening vignette that establishes Elizabeth Sparkle’s (Moore) waning fame is excellent, the constant unsubtlety less so (we get it: Dennis Quaid is gross). Internal logic and answering questions are not really in its interest (how could “Sue” (Qualley) possibly function as a huge star on magazine covers without history? Does she get an audition, accepted and film a show in a week? She taps a hollow wall and finds an empty room behind? Wait, who is behind “The Substance”, what is their agenda and what do they gain?).

 

But the comic book look, the art design, the practical effects are where ‘The Substance’ excels, pushing itself right to the end into a “fuck it” splatterfest until using out-there gore to return us to the beginning with an astute ending whose unsubtlety works. The FrightFest audience rightly treated the whole thing as a comedy with a little grit, stupidity and feminine anger, and for that it is a giddy body horror that wins by taking the lead of the body horror that came before. And of course, you get a callback to ‘The Shining’ carpet as well.

 

    But...

 

My friend called it ‘Gore Barbie’* and that seems to me a thoroughly succinct summary. And like the similar phenomenon of ‘Barbie’ it is similarly colourful but unsubtle. ‘Barbie’ had its Girl Power on its pink plastic tiara, had fun at the expense of the bros, but it didn’t really offer anything progressive, nothing challenging a binary us-or-them way of imagining gender; and then it descended into the tiresome sentimental mainstreaming sermonising that undermines the satire. Even so, there was a few subtle gags beneath the garish veneer and gleefully provoked misogynists, so all to the good. Alternatively, I sat through ‘The Substance’ just waiting for a nuance, but none came. Rather, its cartoonery and absurdism and body horror kept dragging me in and batting away my reservations.

 

But I balked at the news that it won Best Screenplay at Cannes. I mean, it is a lot of fun and it is bookended by two satisfying Hollywood Star moments, but if screenplays are to be celebrated for dialogue, structure, layers of meaning, execution and refinement of theme, how can ‘The Substance’ win? ‘Red Rooms’, ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, ‘Burning’ are all at the top of my list of recent screenplays, but if we are to look at genre, ‘The Demon Disorder’ may be the lesser body horror – centred on men this time – but it does have characters. ‘The Substance’ doesn’t have characters but caricatures. Horror is full of Final Girl fury and has been for a while, and films like ‘A Wounded Fawn’ or ‘Piggy’ and ‘Pearl’ offer WTF factors, the last especially hinged on the psychopathy of ambition. ‘The Substance’s failing is that although it is about the internal conflict between ages in the same body, there is no real sense of who Elizabeth Sparkle is, and if Sue is anything to go by, she’s selfish and vain. It’s a fantasy context that doesn’t give her shade: there’s a sense that however topical its feminist outrage is, it’s not very of the zeitgeist. No overwhelming fans, no social media, she’s a TV fitness star which feels a little retro, no huge business infrastructure. The realisation is that this superficiality is the secret to ‘The Substance’s success, in that it contains nothing troubling. It doesn’t have the sadness of the pop-coloured ‘Promising Young Woman’, or the distress of Brea Grants’ ‘Lucky’, or the insidiousness chill of ‘The Assistant’. Or indeed the heartbreaking desperation of the ‘Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities’ episode ‘The Outside’. Indeed, that’s surely how such an extreme body horror is in the mainstream. It must be a gleeful shock to those unfamiliar with the genre and a riot for fans.

 

‘The Substance’ succeeds as an outrageous visual feast and absurdity, not on angles and layers. There’s a sloppiness that seems unnecessary and undermining when so much else is thoroughly entertaining and a little transgressive – it was the same with Fargeat’s previous ‘Revenge’. If you’re someone who likes to stick a fork in and turn it over to see what’s on the other side, ‘The Substance’ is a little undercooked, but it is a triumph of gusto over thematic nuance. As a horror comedy in the Henenlotter style, it’s a scream, and where Fargeat has made it to your local multiplex, that’s a singular achievement. Never thought I would see the day.  

 

 

 

* Thanks, Nata!