Coralie Fargeat's outré satire about modern beauty standards is a cautionary tale and 2024's wildest psychodrama, in which Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley slowly transform into a modern Frankensteined wonder. When Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore), a 50-year-old actress turned TV fitness instructor, is fired by a network executive who deems her too old, she makes a Faustian bargain, injecting herself with neon-green plasma that lets her live every other week as a sexy, spotless 20-something named Sue (Qualley). But each time Sue overstays her welcome, parts of Elisabeth's body age at punishing rates. Soon enough, she will become Monstro Elisasue, a distorted ogress who looks like Anjelica Huston in The Witches, if that movie had been 17 times more sinister.
Over two years, Fargeat worked to construct a beastly mash-up befitting the bloodbath of the film's operatic finale. All the things that can be seen as pieces of flesh from the outside gazeour breasts, our ass, our teeth, our smile-were totally deconstructed, pulverized, and put in no order, the French director says. It's the way society has shaped itself by the way men look at women. This is how Elisasue came to life.
1. The Birth
Fargeat always knew her movie would end with a monster- "a Picasso of male expectations," as she calls it. The rejection that motivates Elisabeth to consume the Substance also fosters Sue's addiction to remaining young, which is why Sue defies the mandate to switch bodies with Elisabeth every seven days. Elisasue is the product of minds and bodies stalked by external valuations.
Denne historien er fra October 07-20, 2024-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra October 07-20, 2024-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Home Sweet Home?
Meghan Markle pioneers new frontiers of unrelatability.
Going Stealth
Torrey Peters reimagines transness in a new collection.
Toni Morrison's Lost Play
Why did the novelist's only staged drama disappear for so long?
The Resilient Natasha Rothwell
The writer and actor returns to The White Lotus just as the show she created, How to Die Alone, has been canceled.
Maximum Capacity
Ha’s Snack Bar is already too full, but it’s also too good to ignore.
Odd Jobs
Bong Joon Ho sets a bitterly funny take on America in space.
Free Country Sam Adler-Bell
Playing Dead For Democratic leadership, giving up is the strategy.
MOVE FAST AND BREAK LAWS
SHAYNE COPLAN upended political polling on his way to creating the billion-dollar betting platform POLYMARKET. Maybe it's even legal.
COMMISH TISCH TO THE RESCUE
The NYPD's Jessica Tisch has spent her career quietly taking on intractable city problems— but what happens when the biggest problem is the mayor himself?
From Hot to Not
Chefs across the city are toning down the spice levels on their most fiery recipes.
