{"id":2432572,"date":"2026-05-26T11:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2432572"},"modified":"2026-05-26T11:32:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:32:52","slug":"forget-the-substance-paramounts-body-horror-film-is-the-most-socially-aware-in-the-genre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/forget-the-substance-paramounts-body-horror-film-is-the-most-socially-aware-in-the-genre\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget &#8216;The Substance,&#8217; Paramount+&#8217;s Body Horror Film Is the Most Socially Aware in the Genre"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Against all odds, the standout film of 2024 was <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The Substance;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/tag\/the-substance\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>The Substance<\/strong><\/a>. While <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:the body horror film;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/body-horror-transformations-movies-best-ranked\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">the body horror film<\/a> was stacked with beloved actors, old and new, the type of film wasn\u2019t one that typically wins at the box office. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Demi Moore;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/the-substance-demi-moore-everything-we-know\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Demi Moore<\/strong><\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:stars as an aging starlet;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/the-substance-demi-moore-everything-we-know\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"> stars as an aging starlet<\/a> who takes a supposed miracle drug that allows her to get her career back. What it really did was allow her to live seven days as herself and seven days as a younger version of herself, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:played by;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/margaret-qualley-movies-shows-best-ranked\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">played by <\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Margaret Qualley;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/margaret-qualley-movies-shows-best-ranked\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Margaret Qualley<\/strong><\/a>. The culminating events were not necessarily ideal, hence the pointed social commentary about how women in Hollywood are vilified when they start to age.<\/p>\n<p>The Substance was commended for its socially aware messaging, but it only took the idea so far. Prime Video has released a new body horror film that targets another relevant topic. <strong>Amy Wang<\/strong> directed the film <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Slanted;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/tag\/movie\/slanted\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Slanted<\/strong><\/a>, which takes commentary about race to a whole new level. The story follows a Chinese-American student, Joan Huang (<strong>Shirley Chen<\/strong>), who feels ostracized in a white-dominant culture. Desperate to become prom queen, <strong>Joan elects to undergo a procedure that would turn her white<\/strong>. At first, she is ecstatic that she is finally being treated with equality, but her happy reality soon unravels into a nightmare of her own making.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"heading\">\u2018Slanted\u2019 Is the Best Parts of \u2018The Substance\u2019 and \u2018Get Out\u2019<\/h2>\n<div style=\"max-width:960px\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><img alt=\"Joan, played by actor Shirley Chen, sits in her room looking at her phone with a clothes pin on her nose in Slanted.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img w-full w-full h-auto\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/93A81949C4CDBEEEDD668F6866AB31F408455B2FBE373BF5E73C7BE75FC72382\/subgraphmysterio\/resizefit_w960_h640;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Faol_collider_articles_537%2F0814ff5bded4473e3f95e56858b13a23\"\/><\/div>\n<p>Joan, played by actor Shirley Chen, sits in her room looking at her phone with a clothes pin on her nose in Slanted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Just as <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Jordan Peele;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/jordan-peele-get-out-best-horror-movie-21st-century-nyt-list\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Jordan Peele<\/strong><\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:\u2019s;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/jordan-peele-get-out-best-horror-movie-21st-century-nyt-list\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u2019s <\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Get Out;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/jordan-peele-get-out-best-horror-movie-21st-century-nyt-list\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Get Out<\/strong><\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:explores a specific experience;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/jordan-peele-get-out-best-horror-movie-21st-century-nyt-list\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"> explores a specific experience<\/a> of race in America, so too does Slanted. Even worse, it\u2019s set in high school. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:High school experiences are the most excruciating of all;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/high-school-coming-of-age-movies-best-ranked\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">High school experiences are the most excruciating of all<\/a>, as teenagers have to contend with becoming who they are as people while also enduring senseless ridicule. Joan\u2019s struggle to fit in is made all the more difficult in her predominantly white school.<\/p>\n<p>Even her hope to win Prom Queen is defined by her race, as the popular white girls at school only use her for what she can give them. This heartache is artfully juxtaposed with Joan\u2019s mother desperately trying to show her their Chinese heritage. Despite the love she is shown at home, the idea of a trans-racial surgery is too tempting to turn away.<\/p>\n<p>The creators of the company \u2014 which is pointedly named Ethnos \u2014 were not always white and developed the technology because of how fatigued they were from getting passed over for opportunities because of how they looked. This specific pain that underlies the film demonstrates why Joan would make her ultimate choice. <strong>Slanted<\/strong><strong> excels because it doesn\u2019t walk back any of the trauma<\/strong> that Joan and her family experience. Time and time again, the doctor reminds Joan that the procedure is permanent and there is no going back. The narrative is more tragic than horrific, which is what makes it such a standout.<\/p>\n<p>When Joan turns into her alter ego, played by <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Mckenna Grace;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/tag\/mckenna-grace\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Mckenna Grace<\/strong><\/a>, it is legitimately heartbreaking \u2014 as is the realization that the doctor wasn\u2019t lying. There is no reclaiming Joan\u2019s culture or heritage when she realizes how wrong she was. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Slanted;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/slanted-movie-review-mckenna-grace-horror\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Slanted<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:satirizes its subject matter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" href=\"https:\/\/collider.com\/slanted-movie-review-mckenna-grace-horror\/?utm_source=syndication\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"> satirizes its subject matter<\/a>, making this turn of events all the more brutal. Literally erasing one\u2019s identity is done so casually in the story that it is all the more devastating when there is no answer. While The Substance may be more visually grueling to watch, <strong>Slanted<\/strong><strong> toes that line well, making the social commentary at its center more serious<\/strong> and therefore, more disturbing when the film reaches its tragic end.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aol.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Against all odds, the standout film of 2024 was The Substance. While the body horror film was stacked with beloved actors, old and new, the type of film wasn\u2019t one that typically wins at the box office. Demi Moore stars as an aging starlet who takes a supposed miracle drug that allows her to get [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2432573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[477261,477260,365415,399877],"class_list":["post-2432572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-body-horror-film","tag-joan-huang","tag-social-commentary","tag-the-substance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Forget-The-Substance-Paramounts-Body-Horror-Film-Is-the-Most.com2Fen2Faol_collider_articles_5372F0814ff5bded4473e3f95e56858b13a23.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2432572"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2432574,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432572\/revisions\/2432574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2432573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2432572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2432572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2432572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}