The Substance feels uniquely fashionable in its critique of magnificence requirements and growing old in Hollywood. Nonetheless, it appears Coralie Fargeat had the foundational thought in her head virtually a decade earlier than its launch, as her brief movie Actuality+ feels just like the blueprint for the Oscar-nominated horror film. If The Substance is a organic evaluation of picture, Actuality+ is a technological examination, specializing in the way in which we use filters to change our picture. The process feels way more widespread, and while it focuses on the protagonist Vincent (Vincent Colombe), it doesn’t really feel like a private story. As an alternative, it reads as an allegory for the image-obsessed society we dwell in, and the untrustworthy facade of social media – the place you may by no means know somebody’s true self.
What’s ‘Actuality+’ About?
Actuality+ is ready in a near-future society the place residents can endure a process to change their look. The method entails a mind implant, which, when first activated by the consumer, permits them to select their dream physique. When Vincent boots up the system, he’s going through his toilet mirror, which permits the viewers to see the detailed nuance of the adjustments. The scene resembles a video-game character builder, as Vincent opens and closes his fist to vary the definition of his abs and muscle tissues. He’s additionally capable of scroll by means of a set of pre-designed faces and choose one to be his personal. The caveat with the operation is that the customers can solely be their mannequin self, generally known as Vincent+ (Aurélien Muller) for 12 hours, and the opposite half of the day they return to their common self. Equally, solely those that even have Actuality+ put in can see this model of themselves. Basically, all these with the software program put in are catfishing others while additionally being catfished on the similar time, because the chip acts as a continuing filter over the person’s eye.
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The overall throughline of the story is pretty mundane, as Vincent finally ends up assembly Stella (Vanessa Hessler) at a espresso store and creating a connection together with her. The pair immediately know they each have Actuality+ put in, so there’s the fixed concern of the opposite particular person seeing their true self. The consequences of the transition are trendy however lack any type of subtlety, which reveals Fargeat has at all times been insistent on overt imagery to hone in on which means. She makes use of this simplistic story to emphasise the starkness of the know-how and its hazard. At one level within the story, Vincent is hit within the face and this causes his chip to malfunction. As his system is failing, the film flashes between every particular person’s actual life look and their Actuality+ persona. It heightens how widespread the method is and serves as a metaphor for the pandemic of low self-acceptance.
‘Actuality+’ Reveals the Foundations of ‘The Substance’
There are various parallels between Actuality+ and The Substance, each thematically and stylistically. One of many main similarities facilities round physique dysmorphia and the affect of seeing an idealized model of your self. The Substance options the now iconic sequence the place Demi Moore is preparing for a date however trying within the mirror provides her such an intense feeling of disassociation that she aggressively removes her make-up. Vincent’s lack of self-confidence is evidenced in Actuality+ by means of the potential of an underground operation that may enable him to be the idealistic model of himself 24/7. While daydreaming about bringing Stella again to his flat, we see a protracted scar alongside his backbone, which mirrors the scar in The Substance. Stella screams and Vincent realizes the process stored the incorrect model of himself. The deep-rooted lack of self-acceptance is identical in each movies, but Moore’s efficiency feels extra private whereas Actuality+ feels extra generalized in its portrayal.
The motivations of all of the characters in Actuality+ really feel way more centered on companionship and acceptance in society. Whereas The Substance critiques the remedy of older girls, Elisabeth Sparkle had the sweetness and the standing, and he or she is striving to retain that. The “earlier than” people in Actuality+ are purposefully mundane to indicate that the failings you discover in your self are insignificant to different individuals, in addition to displaying simply how drastic the transition is. When Vincent transitions into Vincent+ he’s unrecognizable, each single side of himself is gone. Fargeat furthers this concept by having Vincent stumble upon somebody who has picked the identical face as him by means of Actuality+, heightening this concept that the software program is chipping away at individuality. The brief movie may undergo from predictability, however the idea is immediately intriguing and serves as a scrumptious precursor to The Substance.
