The Substance

Bringing another level to the phrase “Beauty is pain”, The Substance has already been lauded by critics as a thrilling work of recent feminist film, viscerally exploring the connection between the broken and the beautiful. Slated for a September release, The Substance delicately dissects modern discourse on the sheer, subliminal horror of twenty-first century beauty standards, those wholly unattainable, skin-deep markers of beauty that allow pressure – to conform; to alter one’s image – to mount sinisterly under the surface. Raw body-horror mixed with scathing social commentary, The Substance is the first film in WSC’s Halloween Horror Week, and it’s sure to leave your skin crawling.

Martha Gibbs