Here it is, finally arriving in theaters, the cinematic shock of 2024: The Substance (The substance), by Coralie Fargeat. This hard-line allegory of female ageism and internalized misogyny is unlike anything else. Like Julia Ducournau with Titane three years ago, Coralie Fargeat ventures into the realms of body horror (body horror) previously marked by David Cronenberg, and appropriates them in passing. In doing so, the screenwriter, director and co-editor, for whom this is only the second feature film, deploys a furiously baroque and satirical, bloody and symbolic vision.