I just finished watching the cult movie "Some Substance," which left me with quite a psychological trauma.
At first, the movie's pace was neither fast nor slow, and the content was relatively normal, with only occasional risqué scenes. However, it wasn't until the last half hour that I truly experienced what "Cult" means. The more beautiful and captivating the beginning was, the more disgusting the ending became: the protagonist, dragging a deformed body, continuously spun in the center of the stage, spraying blood like a blooming blue lotus. Such imagery was truly unsettling for me. The director slammed the gas pedal, using a truck of bloody violence and grotesque curiosity to equally crush every audience member drawn in by the glamorous and erotic scenes at the beginning 🤮.
Returning to the movie itself, the plot was actually quite unremarkable and had some flaws. For example, the protagonist, who seems to be unproductive, surprisingly masters both surgical procedures and carpentry skills; in the chase between the mother and the child, the mother drags her aging body yet moves with agility, engaging in a back-and-forth fight with the child, which felt very out of place.
Regarding the theme of the movie, the director seems to want to explore how the patriarchal (the power holders in the film are all male) capitalist system, with its capital choices (audiences always prefer the young) and the male gaze, destroys women. However, from the plot perspective, this tragedy is also caused by the protagonist's own greed and the vicious competition (female competition) between the mother and child, which is confusing and leaves me uncertain about the director's intent.
But putting aside these thematic discussions, the film itself is quite well-crafted in terms of visual impact and horror atmosphere, definitely a cult movie worth watching in recent years.