Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid

Directed by Coralie Fargeat

Mubi

A fading celebrity decides to use a black-market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

Where do you begin with writer/director Coralie Fargeat’s (Revenge) cautionary horror movie? It’s off the scale. Gory, shocking, flashy and trashy, I doubt you’ll see anything like it this year, I’m just not convinced that a final bit of restraint wouldn’t have made it a 10/10.

Demi Moore is Elisabeth Sparkle, popular host of an aerobics TV show, but ratings are falling and slimy producer Harvey (Dennis Quaid) decides that he needs a younger model. Realising that her best years are behind her, Sparkle is seduced into trying a mysterious form of medical treatment which creates a younger, perfect version of herself (an excellent Margaret Qualley). The younger version is an immediate hit, and everything will be fine, just so long as they follow the rules of play.

From a narrative perspective this is a modern-day mashup of The Picture of Dorian Gray and Strange Case of Jekyll and Hyde. Theresa message is clear – accept yourself for who you are, and don’t mess with science. The backdrop of shallow, misogynistic Hollywood says nothing new – we all know it’s the boulevard of broken dreams – but it’s the powerhouse performances knock it out of the park.

It’s an overused phrase to describe a performance as brave or fearless, but that’s exactly what Moore and Qualley give us. Naked and vulnerable, they both convince the audience that they would do whatever it takes to be beautiful. And it looks fantastic, with a glossy sheen and a pounding soundtrack. And then there’s the body horror…

While David Cronenberg is the name we usually associate with body horror – and there’s certainly allusions to his The Brood, Rabid and The Fly – this movie owes as much a debt to Re-Animator, The Toxic Avenger, Basket Case and other gloopy horrors of the 80s and 90s. And it’s extreme. It just gets more and more intense and then hits a tipping point of absurdity where I personally checked out. In a film of major excess, the blood-soaked ending starts unravelling some of what has gone before, but not terminally. There’s so much good stuff here that it can’t be derailed, just slightly stalled.

Verdict: Believe everything you read about this shocker – it’s extreme to the max. Is it ultimately a case of substance over style? Quite possibly. But what a visceral ride. 9/10

Nick Joy