Review – The Substance

I was on board with this for most of the ride. The “Picture of Dorian Gray” theme meshed well with the darkly humorous criticism of Hollywood’s obsession with toxic beauty standards for women. Some over-arty visuals, some odd plot twists, but overall it did a solid job of making its points and keeping the story moving. In particular, the close up of Dennis Quaid eating was disgusting enough to rival “Un Chien Andalou.” But then the third act problems set in. The story goes so far off the rails in pursuit of more body horror gags that it starts to seem like a dumb hallucination, which of course kills its credibility. See if desperate