Amy & Demi….A Morphing We Will Go

The just released trailer for Amy Adams' new movie Nightbitch and Demi Moore’s latest The Substance might be making some interesting statements on the state of our modern times. But as always with films revealing a little more meat-on-the-bones in their themes, if either film is a satirical jab, or simply an outrageous comedy, (or neither or both), viewers will decide.

Regardless of how people take to these films though, both do reveal an interesting approach on how both actresses morphed themselves from what we usually expect.

The Substance

Described here as a “grotesque parable about the lengths women will go to pursue youth and beauty,” The Substance is high-energy blood-and-guts movie making. Demi Moore plays maturing movie star Elisabeth Sparkle (the character’s name an obvious broadside) hitting her mid-century mark. Her boss Harvey (in what has been best described as an over-the-top performance by Dennis Quaid) dismisses her outright because she is not as young as she once was, and this leads to Sparkle using a drug known as the Substance. She morphs into a younger version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley, literally born ripping from Sparkle’s spine.

That’s where a good amount of the blood comes in, but not all of it.

As expected, much is being made of the main ladies here baring themselves fully to show the contrast between supple youthful skin and a maturing body. And it’s a sure statement of empowerment from Moore showing herself like this in an industry that celebrates the blush of youth and all but disqualifies ‘older’ female actors from legitimate leading roles. But what The Substance says about body dysmorphia and ageism will come down to each personal viewer's takeaway…if one indeed sees The Substance as anything but a wild bloody fun ride.

Nightbitch

According to this review, Nightbitch “tells the story of a woman (Adams) thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs, who slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood, as she becomes increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a canine.”

Morphing into another animal entirely is surely a step to the side of morphing into a younger version of oneself. But with the main characters here simply called “Mother,” and “Husband,” Nightbitch seems to be pointing its satire (if indeed it is satire) at postpartum considerations, gender roles and motherhood in general.

Early on in the film when Mother admits that yes, she used to be an artist to a group of moms she comes to speak with, one of the ladies admits she was a stripper before she had kids, while another calls these days of other careers, “the before times.” And as Searchlight Pictures themselves state about his movie they are distributing: "A woman pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but soon her domesticity takes a surreal turn.”

So, what does this movie want to say about motherhood, really?

Satire in the modern age

Movies like Nightbitch, The Substance, Barbie even (although this last lies out its point with a much more confectionary approach) might indeed be making some important statements about society and a woman’s modern place in it. But in a world so fraught with division, bubbling with serious issues beyond the fantastic these movies give us (though these issues are assuredly needed), it might just be that satire, even as important as it could be, is very hard to pull off presently.

The Substance opens on September 20th, Nightbitch December 6th, both in the US.