In Billy Wilder’s 1950 classic Sunset Boulevard, the aged Hollywood star Norma Desmond served as a tragic tale. She was depicted as a grandmother, shriveled up by the studio system and begging for any semblance of love from those who once adored her. As Desmond was played by Gloria Swanson, the musical adaptations from 1991 until 2017 were led by actresses of a similar age range: Glenn Close and Kathryn Evans—all of whom are currently in their 70s today. 

So, when last fall, theatrical director Jamie Lloyd took over London with a new revival spearheaded by Nicole Scherzinger, formerly of the Pussycat Dolls, it grabbed attention: both for the fact that she was an unexpected choice for Desmond and actor Tom Francis performing the title track on the streets outside the theater. Can Desmond still work as a character when the actress isn’t considered “old” by outdated industry standards? 

Lloyd’s Sunset Boulevard opened on Broadway just a few weeks ago and is truly one hell of a mindblowing show—answering this question in the process. With on-stage and outdoor cameras, Scherzinger frequently distorts her facial features to mirror that of Swanson’s. Whether it’s an eyebrow raise or a close-up angle, it toys with the crowd to make us view her as older than she is. Yet, by the stage door, Scherzinger had an outfit change (no longer covered in blood) and was back to the pop star most of us still picture her as—polished and put-together with a pair of dark sunglasses on. 

During one of the show’s most powerful moments, Scherzinger’s Desmond sits in a chair watching her old films as a younger lookalike dances in front of her. Their faces switch back and forth during the moment, fully displaying how she has aged. After seeing this scene twice, it’s difficult to imagine how Scherzinger feels about performing it nightly. It provides an out-of-body experience of glancing fully at your past or grieving a lost version of yourself. Scherzinger, as a star, has adapted time and time again, and it raises the thought of whether that pain is there. 

In a time marked by the social media push for Ozempic and the return of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, among other societal things, the self-hatred is only beginning younger and younger. Because of this, it’s no wonder Sunset Boulevard and Desmond are having a modern reimagining, just shy of the film’s 75th anniversary.

The staging of that scene also felt like a reminder of another recent film in the zeitgeist: Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance. Much like Desmond, Demi Moore plays an actress named Elisabeth Sparkle who went from having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to being ousted from her jazzercise show just after her 50th birthday. This prompts her to take “the substance,” an injection that promises a newer, better you. Outside of Sparkle’s back, which splits open in a moment of body horror, finds Margaret Qualley taking over as Sue. She is bubblier, captivating and sexual to the camera in a way that Elisabeth hasn’t been in a while. She is a shiny new toy to the machine. 

Entertained by this prospect and power, Sue soon becomes disgusted with her older self, objecting to break the rules by spending more time in the limelight and causing Elisabeth to rapidly advance toward decrepitness. This push-and-pull between the two women ultimately ends with Sue killing her original self, sparking some chaotic consequences. 

Unlike Elisabeth, who started being tuned into the effects of aging at her 50s, Sue starts struggling as her teeth fall out, with her only hope at combating this being to take “the substance” again. 

Another example comes in the form of director Austin Peters’ Skincare, which recently played at the London Film Festival, as it follows a similar model. While Sunset Boulevard and The Substance focus on aging actresses, Elizabeth Banks plays Hope Goldman, a facial specialist to the stars who soon struggles with feeling replaced by the hipper Angel (Luis Gerardo Méndez) after his shop opens across the street. Sure, Skincare’s plot leans more into campy elements than The Substance’s horror aspects, but the commentary on ageism remains the same. 

Peters also makes the Sunset Boulevard reference clear from the beginning, as we see police lights flashing out toward Hope’s pool in her Los Angeles mansion. When she is ultimately arrested, she doesn’t shy away from the cameras, putting her own spin on Desmond’s iconic moment. 

If you still somehow aren’t convinced about the resurgence, even Saturday Night spells it out clearly while following a younger, anxious Lorne Michaels around the studio as he tries to get his show on the air. While Michaels (here, played by Gabriel LaBelle) is only entering the NBC system and not being aged out, he does serve as the daring youngster that intimidates the other elder comedians and TV executives. He is the Sue or the younger dancer to them. 

Whether you’re actually seeing Scherzinger’s show or catching one of these films this year, Wilder’s depressed and deluded Desmond doubles as a mirror for all of us who struggle with growing older, even if we can’t admit it to ourselves. She would be thrilled to see how her (fictional) legacy has lived on, being reinterpreted, but still powerful—even if the actors are getting younger.