French director Coralie Fargeat crafts a masterpiece, a meditation on ageism, misogyny, and the cruelty to which Hollywood stars are subjected to once they’re past their shelf life and the same cruelty to which they’re forced to subject themselves to stay relevant. This unrepentant and bombastically executed body horror film of Frankenstein-esque proportions was deeply satisfying to watch in all its darkness.
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) captivated audiences as a famous actress with a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Despite being in fantastic shape, the indignities of ageing eroded her star power, leading to her unceremonious firing as a TV fitness show host by an odious, cartoonishly sexist network executive named Harvey (Dennis Quaid) to make room for someone younger.
Sparkle found herself in the hospital when she got distracted by her billboard being dismantled and figured in a car accident from which she miraculously survives virtually unscathed.
A mysterious hospital attendant slips a flash drive in her coat where she discovers the mysterious substance. Despondent and desperate to regain her star status, she reaches out and receives the package with strict instructions that she can only activate her younger self once and to switch back to herself every seven days without exception.
Immediately after injecting the mysterious substance, Sparkle was writhing in pain with what appeared to be some kind of grotesque, almost visceral metamorphosis. A new woman emerges from her body serving as a cocoon. A younger, even perhaps a perfect version of the aging actress.
The younger version is called Sue (Margaret Qualley), a sexpot with the face of an ingenue Harvey and other producers unapologetically objectify. She successfully auditions for the role from which Sparkle was fired.
Sue negotiates a contract during which she is only available every other week as she needs to take care of her ailing mother. In hindsight, she wasn’t exactly lying when she came up with that excuse.
As Sue becomes a massive success, Sparkle descends to madness. Things begin to go disastrously awry for both of them when they fail to adhere to the instructions.
This is a renaissance for Quaid who appears to relish his role as a disgustingly sleazy studio executive in all his sexist, misogynistic glory. His Harvey is a caricatured personification of all the cruelty women in Hollywood experience, have contended, and still contend with all these years.
Moore, whose career spans five decades, was pitch perfect for the role, gives the performance of a lifetime, and is possibly her finest hour. The 62-year old actress goes nude with her incredibly fantastic yet imperfect body and confronts the camera with stunning frankness. She is the portrait of many stars before her, even perhaps including herself, as she brings to life the self-hatred that comes with physical flaws scarred by what appeared to be plastic surgery, society’s treatment towards ageing women, and falling prey to drugs and procedures in search for the fountain of youth.
While the film is a satirical body horror, Moore delivers an honest, heartbreaking performance of a legend ageing in the spotlight being shoved aside in favor of someone younger. Moore was once one of Hollywood’s biggest stars and the first woman to command a $12,500.000.00 for the 1996 film, Striptease.
The film had its world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival main competition where Fargeat won Best Screenplay. – VC
