Awards Season is in full impact, with the 2025 Academy Award Nominations introduced this morning. Traditionally, a few of the greatest horror motion pictures have did not get acknowledged, because the style is seemingly a tough tablet to swallow for voters. Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance was an enormous query mark because of this, however the venture managed to choose up some main nods, together with Greatest Image, Greatest Director, and Greatest Actress for Demi Moore. However there are additionally some egregious snubs in classes the place it deserved extra. Let’s break all of it down.
A lot of the upcoming Awards present chatter surrounding The Substance has been about Moore lastly getting acknowledged, particularly after she received Greatest Actress on the Golden Globes. The Academy did not let the Ghost actress down on this regard, and likewise gave Fargeat the flowers she deserves for her impeccable imaginative and prescient and bringing the venture collectively. However I am nonetheless not glad, as there are a selection of classes I imagine it the physique horror flick ought to have gotten nominated for. Particularly Greatest Sound, Enhancing, Cinematography and Greatest Supporting Actress for Margaret Qualley.
The Substance‘s BTS featurette confirmed simply how a lot work and imaginative and prescient Coralie Fargeat put into The Substance, and her hands-on strategy to capturing. And it is for that motive that I feel the movie’s cinematography deserved some love. The film is so charming due to the very particular manner it is captured on digicam, in addition to the way it’s all edited collectively because the stakes and pressure rise.
Whereas Demi Moore has been rightfully getting her flowers for her efficiency as Elisabeth Sparkle, I do not suppose that there is been sufficient chatter about her counterpart Margaret Qualley as Sue. Whereas she begins off the film as a beautiful new expertise on the scene, she finally ends up operating the gamut of feelings and changing into a murderous Mr. Hyde. And that is to say nothing of her efficiency as MonstroElisaSue, which required her to be mainly utterly lined in prosthesis.
Though I’ve to say that the snub that I am most fired up about for The Substance was Greatest Sound. The film’s sound is mainly one other character, with each squelch including to the nausea-inducing physique horror. And I will actually always remember the scene the place Kevin Costner disgustingly chowed down on shrimp whereas firing Elisabeth. Regardless of all of the blood and guts of the movie, that one ended up being essentially the most disturbing for me… largely as a result of sound. Add in the way in which The Substance‘s theme track in addition to “Pump It Up” are utilized all through its runtime, and the sound is mainly one other character.
As somebody who ranked The Substance as one of the best film of 2024, I ought to make clear I am hyped it received acknowledged on so many classes, and am actually hoping Demi Moore wins for Greatest Actress. I simply wished much more love for the horror flick.
Make sure to test the 2025 film launch dates, particularly with all of the upcoming horror motion pictures heading to theaters.