Offscreen Central is horrified by the fires devastating Southern California. As much of our team is based in LA, it is hard for us to go on business as usual. If you are in any of the impacted areas, please stay and stay up to date with precautions needed in your area. The Watch Duty app is a great resource for mapping evacuation updates and orders. The DSA have put together an emergency resource guide for those in the Los Angeles county. The guide includes where to track evacuation warnings, nearby shelter locations and essentials for survival kits.

While we will be dropping work again after a short break, we are hoping to highlight someone in need with each piece dropped. The Coleman family lost everything due to the Eaton Fire. If you can make a small donation, here is their GoFundMe.

When Coralie Fargeat’s latest film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, no one could have predicted how far the film would go in the award season. The Substance is not listed in that thread of ‘Oscar bait.’ Fargeat’s film has hundreds of thousands of gallons of fake blood pumped through a fire hose to deliver the gushing needed, a scene where Demi Moore essentially gives birth to Margaret Qualley out of her back, a brutal car crash, a sexy Diet Coke ad, a chicken wing pulled out of a belly button, and somehow, so much more that is not the norm of the Academy.

However, Fargeat’s brilliant vision and her intention behind every single moment on screen in The Substance is never compromised; nothing is strictly for shock without intent in the story she’s wanting to tell. Even if you dislike the film itself, Fargeat is bringing her specific vision to life and did not stick with a major distributor because she wanted her creative vision intact when the film came out. There is no lineup for Best Director that feels complete without Fargeat. 

The Substance feels like the closest a modern horror film has come to breaking barriers at the Oscars for nominations, and maybe eventually wins. This film works on every level because of the control (CONTROL YOURSELF!) Fargeat has over every ounce of the bonkers story that connects on a human level. The most insane experience of 2024 was watching The Substance with a packed audience who had no idea what they were in for, but it was also one of the most emotional experiences. Personally, I’ll never forget watching the getting ready scene with my friend Courtney Howard and us both crying over how seen we felt, just like many other people who saw themselves in that moment. Fargeat’s ability to play up the blood, the gore, the silly antics of Harvey (Dennis Quad) and still land those emotional moments with sincerity speaks volumes to her incredible work as a director. The Substance was such a monumental success because of her vision being so precisely brought to the screen. There were no compromises with how she brought Elisbaeth and Sue to life and make audiences sympathize with Monstro Elisasue. 

When watching the behind-the-scenes featurette, it’s incredible to see the practical effects used within The Substance specifically with Fargeat behind them. From using her own body for the injection scenes to operating the hose to spray fake blood in the theater, Fargeat is so unbelievably hands on in this bonkers film in such an inspiring way. While Moore being nominated and possibly winning feels on point with the themes of the film itself, The Substance is a monumental success because of Fargeat as a director. She has been uncompromising in the film’s long journey to production and now the final stretch before Oscar nominations. We’re always asking the Academy to be more daring and take a look into genre films, especially horror, seeing Fargeat in the director line up will not only be a massive success but a step in a direction of a new Academy we could only once dream of. 

The Substance is currently available on demand or streaming on Mubi. The film will also be back in select theaters starting January 17th.
Check out this making of featurette on Mubi’s YouTube here.
You can find our review of the film here and read our interview with Coralie Fargeat here.