Body horror is taking over TIFF this year and we can't look away
Today on TIFF in 12 we’re talking female-centric body horror and the return of David Cronenberg
With the Toronto International Film Festival just past the halfway point, and TIFF in 12 on its third episode, Elamin, Rad and Teri share their magical TIFF moments before jumping into a rowdy discussion about the new wave of body horror they've been squirming their way through. From Demi Moore in The Substance to Amy Adams in Nightbitch and the new David Cronenberg, these movies are challenging viewers not to look away.
We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.
Elamin: We've got to talk about a big trend at this festival and that trend is body horror. We've been noticing body horror pop up in a bunch of different movies. Teri, you and I have seen Nightbitch. Rad, you and Teri have both seen The Substance. Let's talk about body horror showing up in this film festival. Maybe I'll start with you, Teri.
Teri: Yeah, specifically female body horror, and I think that that's a really important part of this trend. In The Substance, the premise of the movie is Demi Moore takes an injection to try and be her better self, her younger self, and Margaret Qualley shows up as the younger version of Demi Moore. And we get all of this, like, proper body horror in these transitions that we're seeing.
In Nightbitch — and I really have to be careful with that title because it is one word. It's not two words. In Nightbitch, Amy Adams is turning into a dog. It's an allegory for the animalistic nature that women experience when they become mothers. But we see a tail form, and how we get to that tail — if you don't squirm at that moment, I don't know, you've got more steely sense than I do.
Elamin: I never wanted to throw up more in a theatre than watching that very specific scene. I have a weak stomach in general, but honestly, watching that scene, I turned to my wife, Emily, and I was like, '"I can't look at the screen right now because if I do, I will vomit in the theatre." And so I watched it through my fingers. That's how I watched that scene.
Teri: That's a fair way to watch that scene, yeah. And I really think it's a post-pandemic issue about what we're putting into our bodies. We're seeing more and more female filmmakers, and they are reconciling the issues of aging and the pressures society puts on women to not age, and the lengths that we're willing to go to satisfy those societal expectations. And they're done both really effectively.
The Substance — many people saw it before I did, and they were like, "Teri Hart, this is not a movie for you," because everybody who knows me knows that I can't. And here's what worked for me about The Substance, is it really earned all of that body horror, you know? In the last 20 minutes when things go, like, really, really insane, the filmmaker is borrowing from all of these other female horror movies, most notably Carrie. We see all of this development, and I think it earns all of those moments. Demi Moore is spectacular — so is Margaret Qualley — but Demi Moore specifically stands out in this movie. I think she could squeeze an Oscar nomination. I think there's a lot of nostalgic love. Look at Rad's face.
Elamin: Let me pause you there, Teri, because you know how much I love to silence Rad. But also, we have to give him an opportunity to talk about this. First, I should say, body horror is a type of horror film. The trends in horror kind of go between thriller, psychological horror, and then we're seeing some kind of bodily transformation that is really messing a bunch of people up. I think you're right, Teri, to identify that as a consequence of post-pandemic anxiety. Theatre and art and film tend to respond to trends in a bit of a delayed fashion, and I think maybe we're there. Rad, you made such a face when Teri just said that Demi Moore could squeeze a nomination for The Substance. I will now allow you to go on.
Rad: I agree with a lot of what Teri was saying there. I think Demi Moore is great in this. I love Margaret Qualley in it as well. And I think there's a lot of style in this movie that really had me going. For me, it didn't ultimately work because I don't think it's as nuanced as a lot of the best body horror movies. I think, at a certain point when Teri was mentioning the last 20 minutes, it did feel like the movie kind of ran into a wall and didn't know what to do, but just kept humiliating this character played by Demi Moore. And it never had any kind of a catharsis moment in that; it's just kind of degradation and humiliation. I wish there was something more. I really want to see Nightbitch. That's one of the movies that is just like —
Elamin: Somebody get this man a ticket to Nightbitch.
Rad: … but also talking about The Substance and its weakness, I compare it to the master of body horror who also has a movie at TIFF that's premiering today called The Shroud.
Elamin: David Cronenberg! Yes.
Rad: You know, and that's a movie about a husband mourning his wife. It's inspired by David Cronenberg mourning his own wife ... losing his wife. And when you think about the body horror of David Cronenberg, it's always been like, the body is merging with technology. And in this movie, it's about the husband inventing a technology so he could follow his wife into death. So he can witness his wife's body decaying.
And what Cronenberg does with this movie, he gets so much emotion out of the body horror. There's a scene where the husband's trying to make love to his wife while she's dying and her hip collapses, and the fragility of that moment and the vulnerability of that moment — it takes body horror to an emotional state that I can't imagine The Substance even approaching.
Elamin: Okay, this is what keeps happening. You guys keep adding movies to my list, right? Like, the festival is winding down. We're more than halfway through, and then you guys are like, No, there's more to see.
You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.
For more from Teri, Rad and Elamin on #TIFF24, check out our podcast-exclusive episodes called TIFF in 12, dropping every day from September 9-13 about all the festival happenings you might have missed.
Panel produced by Danielle Grogan.