Directed by Coralie Fargeat (Revenge (2017)) and starring Demi Moore (Ghost (1990); G.I. Jane (1997); Indecent Proposal (1993); Flawless (2007)), Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019); Drive-Away Dolls (2024); Poor Things (2023); My Salinger Year (2020)) and Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow (2004); Midway (2019); Any Given Sunday (1999)).
Horror; 141 mins; 16+
Initially this film seems to be about a fading television celebrity who is discarded once she reaches 50 years of age and who decides to take a black-market drug to make herself younger again; later it evolves more into a film that looks into the cruel world of the price of youth and glamour in the cut-throat world of television and show business where looks are everything, bringing out the monster in people.
While Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) lives alone in a penthouse studio close to the television studios, she has a high-flying job as a television personality, presenting a morning pilates class on air. One day she overhears the show's producer, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), who has decided to cast her aside for a younger presenter.
Reeling from that shock, she is involved in a car accident leaving the television studios and wakes up in hospital; miraculously, she is relatively unscathed and leaves hospital. Later she discovers a USB stick which she plays, only to discover that it's promoting a cell-replicating "substance" that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
Initially discarding this idea, she then returns to it and goes for it; in the process, she creates a Sue (Margaret Qualley), with both taking it in turns to live seven days on, before taking seven days off.
Initially, this appears to be working well and Sue not only gets Elisabath's old job, but can do no wrong in Harvey's eyes and even gets a promotion and is rewarded with the glitzy New Year's Eve presenter's role.
However, the balance is not quite working out and Sue starts to take more days (from Elisabeth) with devastating consequences, initially just for Elisabeth, but subsequently for herself too.
This is not a sci-fi film about a new drug that may or may not have restorative qualities; if is a horror film that evolves into a gore fest as the science eventually takes account for what Elisabeth wanted to achieve.
Looking beyond the storyline, there are too many plot holes to count, such as nothing is mentioned about how much the treatment costs, how can someone get such a job without some form of identification...
Currently screening at Kinepolis in Luxembourg
