It’s hard to imagine The Substance working nearly as well without its exquisitely deranged third act turn, but in a new interview with Vulture, director Coralie Fargeat says that Universal — which was originally slated to distribute the film — “wanted everything changed” and was convinced that audiences wouldn’t respond to her ideas:
The movie was exactly what I wanted to do, which was to show that yes, this is violent, this is excessive, this is gross. They didn’t want to see that.
One thing that was really not liked was the monster. The monster is the most sincere and risky part, where I show my inner self. I show the way I felt since I was a little kid, because I don’t totally fit what is expected. You show yourself naked and people find you ugly. But I was like, okay, so even monsters have to meet some beauty standards. It’s really an endless battle.
[vulture.com]
