What a way to ruin a movie!

Sunday marks the 97th annual Academy Awards ceremony. The film — a feature film directed, written and co-produced by Coralie Fargeat — has five nominations, including best picture. It doesn't deserve it, just as it didn't deserve to win the best screenplay award at the Cannes Film Festival.

And the screenwriter and director simply and plainly ruined this movie.

What a waste. The story was good, excellently acted, with a chilling pace, in short, the first two thirds of the film were being a blast and, suddenly, in the third part, The Substance becomes a monster, literally speaking.

Personally, it had me on the edge of my seat for almost two hours. Afterwards I never tired of cursing the director. She turned a great movie into an unnecessary laughing stock. From the drama genre we moved on to a mix of comic horror and gore. We ended with ridiculous scenes suitable for teenagers who are in the mood to be scared and laugh.

The final product is a churro.

I was left wanting to throw the popcorn at the screen (I didn't do it out of respect for the cinema).

I understand the need for the film industry to find new ways to tell stories. We are fed up with remakes , rehashes, recycled content and fictional universes. I like it when writers and directors look for something different. The substance is different, for the worse.

I don't want to spoil the story for those who haven't seen it. I'll just mention that the film continues the tradition of Oscar Wilde 's classic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray , about the quest for eternal beauty as one's character ages. The opportunity for an unholy pact to maintain eternal youth and beauty presents itself. But, like everything in life, it comes at a high price.

Beautiful, ambitious and successful, Elisabeth Sparkle turns 50 and is fired from her job. She is a television personality on a popular fitness show whose ratings are declining. Suddenly, out of work, the full weight of a sudden premature old age falls on her.

The fifty-something Sparkle is played by a wonderful Demi Moore , who, with her raspy, sensual voice, was one of my crushes in my youth in films like St. Elmo's Fire and Ghost . Demi is actually already in her sixties; however, she maintains her beauty, which she shows us without any shame in The Substance . She deserves the Oscar for best actress for which she is nominated. With this latest film, Moore demonstrates the acting greatness that she lost during years of lending herself to making frankly tacky films.

The role of young Sparkle, renamed Su, is played by the gorgeous (it couldn't be otherwise) Margaret Qualley . Her performance is also brilliant. And that's what makes the first part of the film a great film: the inevitable confrontation between the old woman and the young woman who are, as they are constantly reminded, the same person.

Moral and existential dilemmas are constantly before the viewer. The substance is uncomfortable, but at the same time it makes us think. Don't we live in an age where people don't know how to grow old with dignity and are willing to spend their time and money on remedies to hide their age? How far can we go in this search for eternal youth?

The other day, a message arrived on my WhatsApp from an unknown phone boasting that “the true substance of youth does exist.” Riding the media wave of the film, “doctor” Esmeralda Bastidas , an expert in regenerative medicine, well-aging and biohacking , reported: “Today we live longer, but the quality of life is not always the best. Most of us long to feel the energy, vitality, health, beauty and freshness of youth.” She therefore recommended a new substance that improves “human performance by hacking or resetting the information contained in cells that promote the development of diseases and promoting health through six key tools.”

Aha. The old tale of miracle cures.

I finished watching The Substance out of film discipline, although I suffered in the last few minutes because of the anger of a good film that was ruined. A piece of crap. Like the main character, the film turns into a farce.

X: @leozuckermann