When Coralie Fargeat’s horror-comedy The Substance premiered in Cannes this year it nearly brought the house down, which is not easily done in the concrete bunker that is the misleadingly titled Palais des Festivals. What’s also unusual about Fargeat’s film is that it’s still being talked about at the year’s end, being a rare crossover between arthouse and grindhouse that has chalked up five Golden Globes nominations for its two female stars and its writer-director.
It’s also only her second film; Fargeat made a big impact in genre circles with her stylish debut feature Revenge (2017), a feminist twist on the Final Girl horror movie trope that ended — for once — with a naked, blood-soaked predator cowering at the mercy of a woman with the upper hand. The Substance, meanwhile, goes several steps further, unleashing such a ridiculous amount of claret that Fargeat apologized to her cast and crew in the end credits.
“Excess” is just one of the words that the director uses to describe her film’s anarchic aesthetic, in which fading movie star Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) makes a Faustian pact with an underground pharmaceutical company that promises her eternal youth but delivers instead a destructive alter ego named Sue (Margaret Qualley). The mostly favorable reviews out of Cannes singled out Moore for praise, making her an early leftfield choice for awards season. But the further four nominations garnered by The Substance — for film, director, screenplay and Qualley — suggest the tide might be turning for genre movies…
DEADLINE: What was your reaction to the news of the Golden Globes nomination?
FARGEAT: My first reaction was a big scream of joy. For real! I was in my apartment, and I literally shouted a very big scream of joy that probably all my neighbors heard. I was very, very happy and really honored. That was a huge accomplishment for me, and I’m so proud to be there alongside so many other filmmakers that I deeply admire. It was huge news for me, obviously.
DEADLINE: This whole journey started in Cannes. What were your thoughts when you were accepted into the main competition there? It’s a very unusual film for Cannes anyway, but it’s certainly an unusual film for the competition.
FARGEAT: To be honest, being in Cannes, for this movie, was my biggest dream from the moment I started to write it. Especially because it is such an unusual way of addressing the message and the theme I wanted to talk about — which is very genre, but at the same time very political and very heavy. I knew that Cannes would be the perfect place to show it, because Cannes, for me, is the temple of cinema. A place where you don’t really care about the genre of films, but you do care about the experience; you can be bold and you can be surprising. And so, when I heard that Thierry Fremaux selected the film, it was the same scream of joy, because I knew that something could happen there.
I knew that it could reach the audience and the journalists in a way like no other, in a place where people gather to celebrate cinema. That was, for me, the best news when I finished the film. And it’s where everything started for the movie. The sparks really started there, with the first screening.
DEADLINE: When did you know that Demi Moore was the perfect choice?
FARGEAT: After we’d met a few times. Because the movie is so intense and so specific, and also very much a genre film, I knew that I needed an actress who would go 100% into the project. We took a lot of time to get to know each other, and for me to explain to her what the film was, and the way we were going to make it. We knew it resonated for both of us in such a strong way that we were 100% aligned. But I really needed to share with her everything else that the movie was going to be about. Like, the way I was going to craft it, all the technical challenges, all the days of shooting, the level of prosthetics, of nudity, of tone, of excess, to be sure that she really had everything she needed to feel at ease jumping into such a risk-taking project, because I knew it was the only way for it to succeed.
I discovered someone who was very unexpected, in that I had [a preconceived] image of her from the movies [of hers] that I had seen in the past. But when I read her book [Inside Out, 2019], I discovered someone who was very much a risk-taker, someone who’d created herself on her own terms, to get where she wanted to be, and who’s been very strong. When I got to know her better, after we’d met those few times, I told myself, “Oh, Demi really rocks. She’s rock’n’roll!” I knew then that she would be able to take this risk.
DEADLINE: The Substance has had a very long life since Cannes. People are going back for more, to see it again and again. Why do you think they have so much affection for this film?
FARGEAT: What I’m so happy about is the fact that the movie stays with people. And for me, that was really what I had at heart when I wrote that film. I really wanted the film to have a long life, to not disappear instantly after its release. I wanted the film to have roots, deep roots, and to spark conversations that would put all those topics on the table that we are not used to talking about. And I feel that’s really what happened, because the audiences really took the movie home with them. To me that says a lot; I think the sincerity of the message has really reached people. It’s also a very visual experience, [in terms of] image and sound. It’s something that stays with you. It’s like a corporeal experience. And that’s the way I love to express myself as a filmmaker, because, to me, you can create very powerful things through just visuals and sound, without any words.
It’s also something that can affect people very deeply. So, with this movie — which is so much about what we feel, what we experience inside, and what we want to hide — to be able to have the audience experience [the story] almost [as if it is happening] in their own flesh was, for me, such an important thing to create. So, I’m really beyond happy about the way audiences have embraced the movie.
DEADLINE: So, what’s next for you? It was far too long between Revenge and The Substance. Are you working on anything at the moment? What are your plans?
FARGEAT: I already know what I want to work on next. I already have an idea I want to write. The only thing I need to have is time to get back into the writing bubble! [Laughs] So, yes, I’m enjoying the life of the film and it’s very important for me to share it with audiences and journalists in different countries. But my brain is already starting to work again, in a kind of reptilian way. I’m very much behind still, but as soon as I have time I will get back to writing, which is what I’m also really looking forward to. I need some quiet time, to be at the same table every day, with the same cup of coffee, and not travel at all.
DEADLINE: Do you see The Substance as a victory for genre filmmaking?
FARGEAT: Oh, totally. But for me, when I do a film, I don’t think about genre. I do what I love and what I’m passionate about. For me, every film is cinema. Every film that transmits something through image and sound is cinema, it’s a universal language, whatever genre it is. When I was younger, I was… I don’t know the term in English, but I was not very good at school. I felt I was not good enough. And so now I love the fact that, in the end, I found my way to express myself in a way that is 100% me. To me, that’s the thing. When you’re sincere in doing what you love to do, it’s the best way you can touch the audience and have your voice go out into the world. So, yes, it’s a success for genre, but, most importantly, it’s a victory for sincerity in why you’re doing film.
English (US) ·