In a new video, Marco Risch from Nerdkultur talks about the small horror film The Substance, which is one of the few to have received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. The film is a critique of Hollywood itself.
Who is Marco Risch? Since 2015, Marco Risch has been focusing on news, analyses, reviews, and interviews about current films and series on his YouTube channel Nerdkultur .
In addition to this, he meets weekly with his colleague Yves Arievich to chat on the Podcast Nerd & Kultur about pop cultural film topics like Star Wars, Marvel, and DC.
Both the YouTube channel and the podcast are part of the Webedia network, which also includes MeinMMO.
In a recent video, Marco talks about the acclaimed horror film The Substance, which satirizes Hollywood and prevailing beauty ideals in the body horror genre.
You can watch Marco’s video here:
The Substance receives a rare horror honor
What kind of film is The Substance? In The Substance, Demi Moore plays the actress Elisabeth Sparkle, who has just turned 50. However, she learns that her long-running TV show is to be canceled because she is too old. But a mysterious substance called The Substance can help her.
The Substance is one of the 7 horror films in Oscar history that has received a nomination for Best Picture
. This places the film alongside classics like Jaws, The Exorcist, or Get Out. At the upcoming Oscars, the film has 5 nominations, as Marco explains. Demi Moore is even considered a favorite for Best Actress.
Marco explains that The Substance manages to be loved as a horror film by Hollywood, even though the film criticizes the entire industry. The great body horror is hidden. Marco himself even says that during his screening of the film, there was a lot of laughter, cheering, and clapping
.
In the film, important themes that have prevailed in Hollywood for ages are hidden. The film is a societal critique about some aspects of the dream factory:
- Societal pressure
- Media sexualization
- Prostitution of the self
- Disgust with oneself
In this context, Marco compares the film to a very good episode of Black Mirror.
Social critique in the style of master Stanley Kubrick
Marco explains that director Coralie Fargeat was inspired by Kubrick. He mentions several aspects that can be recognized from the works of the legendary director:
- Central and symmetrical perspectives
- Minimalist sets
- Suggestive cuts and match cuts
- Nonverbal storytelling
- Few locations
- Large and surreal images
Through these techniques, the relationship of Demi Moore’s character with that of Margaret Qualley is clarified. There are significant differences, but they are eternally connected. It is about one’s own identity and what one would give up to gain recognition.
In his video, Marco also discusses the ending of the film, which was supposed to be changed by the studio. Fargeat did not want that; she did not want a mainstream ending. The rights to the film were then bought by the streaming provider MUBI, known for arthouse cinema. At MUBI, the film was allowed to keep its ending.
This paid off for the provider, as the film earned four times its budget through its theatrical release. This background story perfectly fits the societal critique of the film. At the end of his video, Marco emphatically states: The Substance is also a middle finger to Hollywood.
How many awards The Substance can win will be seen in March. One of the most legendary films of all time is The Silence of the Lambs. In another video, Marco talked about the film on his Nerdkultur channel and what makes it so good: After this, you’ll see The Silence of the Lambs with different eyes
