Harrison Cheung
The talk of TIFF’s Midnight Madness was the gruesome and courageous return of Demi Moore in THE SUBSTANCE. Directed by Coralie Fargeat, THE SUBSTANCE is a horrific black comedy that takes aim at how Hollywood (disgustingly personified by Dennis Quaid as a ruthless producer) devalues older women.
THE SUBSTANCE is another film for which the Demi Moore will be remembered.
Moore plays a has-been star, Elisabeth Sparkle, who makes a Dorian Gray/Faustian bargain with a drug company to keep her looking young for one week at a time, every seven days. An apt commentary on today’s Ozempic-fuelled society, THE SUBSTANCE‘s twist is that during her youthful week, Sparkle’s body hibernates, sharing her lifeline with newcomer, “Sue” (Margaret Qualley) who doesn’t like to share.
TIFF’S MIDNIGHT MADNESS treated audiences two attention-worthy films.
While THE SUBSTANCE grabbed the headlines and scored the rave reviews, the other TIFF Midnight Madness star was ICK, from music video director Joseph Kahn (Taylor Swift, Britney Spears). Kahn’s “soft rock horror” stars Brandon Routh as a high school science teacher who discovers an alien parasite is slowly absorbing his small town.
Paying homage to the classic sci-fi horror trope from THE BLOB to THE FACULTY, the Dean Koontz-co-penned ICK takes a poke at the town’s apathy as being the true enemy of the people.
About the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)
About Midnight Madness at TIFF.
