Ep1050: Hell & Glamnation: ANORA / THE SUBSTANCE (2024) - LIVE Round Table Review
Awards Season cramming continues as Earth's Mightiest Critics check in with two indie label standouts: Sean Baker's Anora and Coralie Fargeat's The Substance!
In the Palme d'Or-winning drama, Anora, Mikey Madison plays Ani, a New Jersey stripper who marries Ivan, the spoiled, drugs-and-video-games-obsessed son of a Russian oligarch. When Ivan splits, his handler embarks on a chaotic night of chasing leads and figuring out how to annul the marriage before his bosses touch down in America--all with a combative Ani and two reluctant henchmen in tow.
The Substance stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth, an aging personal fitness star who volunteers to take an experimental drug that promises renewed youth and vitality--sort of. The titular Substance compartmentalizes Elisabeth for a week at a time, while an alternate version of herself, Sue (Margaret Qualley), comes out to play. Of course, things go horribly wrong in this Hollywood body horror fable, which has been hailed by members of the EMC as one of the year's best.
Far from the syrupy, safe Oscar bait of years past, Anora and The Substance present challenging visions of what contemporary dramas can be. But beneath the outrageous sex, violence, and gore, are they really just as ham-handedly preachy and forgettable as their more staid contemporaries?
Join us for a pole room-crashing, beauty standards-smashing, body horror-braving discussion about two very different dark horse dramas!
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Watch the Anora (2024) trailer.
Watch the Substance (2024) trailer.
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