The bottom – now available to watch on MUBI – is a wild and bloody adventure, but it’s the film’s least spectacular scene that really resonates.

Directed by Coralie Fargeat, the story follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), an actress who became famous for her aerobics show and who, as she celebrates her 50th birthday, is about to be replaced by a younger woman. young.

Frustrated by the situation, Elizabeth takes a mysterious serum called The Substance, which leads her to give birth to a younger clone of herself named Sue (Margaret Qualley). Each of them has a week at a time to enjoy life, but soon Sue begins to take liberties, with tragic consequences.

There are plenty of shocking moments along the way, from Sue’s horrific birth to that of Monstro Elisasue. final bloodbath at the New Year’s Eve show. However, the best scene in the film is actually a low-key (but still terrifying) moment of self-loathing.

Related: Best streaming service UK 2024

In the scene, Elisabeth is preparing for a date with an old high school friend with whom she has recently reconnected. After being fired from her TV show and taking The Substance in a distressed state, this man’s sweet compliments are the only thing that makes her feel good about herself.

She chose to wear a bold red dress. She did her hair and makeup, put on lipstick and high heels. She is beautiful, and yet something is wrong. The reflection in the mirror is not perfect; this is not what she looked like anymore, this is not Sue.

After a few worried glances at the clock (it’s late) and a few final touches, she makes it to the front door.

However, his distorted image in the doorknob stops him in his tracks. In this unflattering version of herself, we truly put ourselves in Elisabeth’s shoes and understand what she sees as all her insecurities fall apart.

Related: The best and most anticipated films of 2024

Rushing to the bathroom, Elisabeth looks in the mirror again and feels ridiculous. She applies a layer of lipstick to her cheek, then aggressively wipes off her makeup by rubbing her face with her hands.

She doesn’t make it to the meeting. She can’t – self-hatred is a powerful thing.

Watch The Substance on MUBI (via Prime Video)

In a film filled with disgusting body horror, buckets of blood and the clear intention to shock the audience at every turn, this understated scene becomes the most terrifying and relatable.

For the majority of the film, Elisabeth Sparkle seems like a caricature of the classic fallen Hollywood star. While we can understand her obsession with beauty and youth – she’s pushed out of the entertainment industry as if it has some sort of expiration date – it’s difficult to connect with her.

Related: The bottom The director and stars explain this bloody and wild ending

In this mirror scene, however, we finally see the woman behind the archetype, Elisabeth at her most vulnerable. This is the fundamental effect that unattainable beauty standards have on women.

It’s a daily feeling of incapacity and unstoppable self-loathing that manifests itself in the most unexpected and brutal ways. Collapsing in front of the mirror while getting ready to go out, or at any time, is painfully common. And it’s not about vanity, but rather the result of unwanted (and unnecessary) comparisons.

Elisabeth compares herself to Sue, a younger, more beautiful version of herself. She compares herself to herself, forever immortalized in films, on television, in aerobics videos and in the huge portrait hanging in her living room.

She is also haunted by Sue’s sexy billboard, which seems to mock her by looming in front of her apartment windows.

However, for most women today, these comparisons mainly come from social media, a country with unrealistic beauty standards.

It’s not just about seeing gorgeous people living their best lives, but the dangers of believing digitally altered images and facial filters are real. A quick scroll through Instagram is all it takes to feel inadequate and uncertain, to find yourself lacking.

For those who struggle with their body image, Elisabeth’s nightmarish experience as she prepares for a date might resonate in a visceral way.

Demi Moore opened up about how difficult it was to film this scene for the movie. “It’s one of the most heartbreaking moments in the film,” she said. Variety.

“I think we can all relate to trying to get better, and making things worse and worse. Coralie likes to do a lot of takes, and my face was just raw. I got to a point where I couldn’t do it anymore,” she added.

“The idea of ​​looking in the mirror and only seeing what’s wrong is like trying to make yourself look ugly, so you can see how you feel.”

The bottom is at its best when it resonates with real women’s issues and those deep-rooted insecurities that we all struggle with.

Looking in the mirror can sometimes be a terrifying experience, so there’s only one message that’s important to take away from this scene: be kinder to yourself.

The bottom is now available to watch on MUBI.

Assistant Film Editor, Digital Spy
Mireia (she/her) has worked as a film and television journalist for over seven years, mainly for the Spanish magazine Photographs.

His work has been published in other media such as Squire And She in Spain, and UsLoveCinema in the United Kingdom.

She is also a published author, having written the essay Studio Ghibli Library: Nicky, Bruja’s Apprentice about Hayao Miyazaki Kiki’s delivery service.
During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world and interviewed A-list talent such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and more. She has also participated in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at the Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at the Kingston International Film Festival in London.
Now based in the UK, Mireia has joined digital spy in June 2023 as assistant film editor.

LinkedIn