The Substance (2024) review

Jane Fonda-esque TV fitness instructor Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) just turned 50 years old and is concerned uncouth producer Harvey (Dennis Quaid) is going to replace her with a more youthful actress so, after finding a USB stick in her coat pocket that advertises a special serum to rejuvenate herself, she tries the drug and it causes her body to split open and "birth" a much younger woman, Sue (Margaret Qualley), who's an immediate success ... except Sue's addicted to the attention and ignores the warning labels on the product.  The "message" is incredibly simple and can be gleaned within the first couple of minutes - that women are judged too harshly on their looks by scummy men and that the Boomers and Gen Z don't get along - and that's about all there is in terms of content, so the rest of this paper-thin "satire" consists of close-ups of icky things (Sue plunging a needle into Elisabeth's spine, a mangled finger, vomit, etc.) and lots of quite impressive visual effects.  Where it really turns into an outrageous spectacle is in the last act, which is when director Fargeat significantly cranks up the grotesque: Sue starts losing her teeth, foolishly injects more of the juice, morphs into a mutant and then the New Year's Eve party she's the star of becomes an impromptu GWAR concert.