Critics raved about The Substance this fall when it hit the 2024 movie calendar, praising how Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley delivered its satirical message on aging, beauty and how women are generally viewed (as well as how they view themselves). The film even earned a perfect 5-star review from our own Eric Eisenberg. Our critic finds himself in the company of Kim Kardashian, who shared her takeaway from the film this weekend, but many are roasting the billionaire fashion and skin care entrepreneur for missing the point.
It seems Kim Kardashian got around to watching the body horror that will likely go down as one of the best of the year. She reportedly posted her opinion on Instagram Stories, which the movie’s X (Twitter) account shared, assuring fans via its caption that this was no joke:
yes this is real pic.twitter.com/b2uNpc3YDtNovember 22, 2024
You can’t make this stuff up, and people were quick to point out that not only has Kim Kardashian made a career out of promoting conventional beauty standards through her shapewear line SKIMS (a $4 billion business) and skin care products, but by commenting on Demi Moore’s appearance, she missed the entire point of the movie. As one fan put it:
This is sort of like an AI watching the Terminator.
There is definitely a bit of irony at play here. For one thing, Kim Kardashian famously dropped 16 pounds in a matter of weeks in order to fit into Marilyn Monroe's dress for the Met Gala in 2022 (the Requiem for a Dream comparisons are impossible not to make).
Also, on her family’s reality show The Kardashians (available to stream with a Hulu subscription), Kim has spoken about the lengths she would go to in order to maintain a youthful appearance, one time straight up saying she’d eat poop — EVERY DAY — if it meant she could look younger. Lots of social media users had jokes to this effect, with posts including:
- And as the inventor of The Substance, I can imagine it meant a lot to Kim to see her work represented on screen – blueraspbaby5
- If the substance was real she’d be the first volunteer – WestonFollower
- If the Substance existed in real life, Kim Kardashian will probably take it despite all the extreme side effects – EmiEleode
- She posted as she googled how she could get her hands on The Substance and use it. Then sell it – Paraswift1408
- Her ass would use the Substance with no hesitation – alexomelet
- This movie was not for you, Kimberly, it was ABOUT you. – at0micl0veb0mb
Fans also thought it was funny that Kim Kardashian chose to share an image of Demi Moore from the beginning of the movie and wondered if she’d made it through to the nightmare fuel of an ending. And while, sure, she’s probably just trying to pay a compliment to one of her friends, the comment does kind of undermine the whole premise of the female-led horror movie. More reactions included:
- Of course Kim’s takeaway from The Substance is that Demi Moore looks amazing – mariellaalvarez
- Kim I... think you missed the point – lisaehlin
- Not at all surprised that she would completely miss the point – enchantednaz
- Hard to imagine someone who needs to understand the plot of this film more than the Kardashians and yet here they are aggressively missing the plot – marxiners
If you want to check out one of the best horror movies of the year and see how your opinion compares to Kim Kardashian’s, The Substance is streaming now on Mubi.
