Visible crew/equipment: After the casting producers ask Sue her name, age, and measurements, the scene cuts to a close-up of her eyes and nose, where the reflection of the camera and light set is visible in both eyes. (00:37:52)
The Substance (2024)
1 visible crew/equipment mistake
Directed by: Coralie Fargeat
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley
Continuity mistake: When Elizabeth is writing Sue's name on the 17th square on the calendar, she writes it roughly down the middle. When the shot changes, Sue's name is now on the lower half of the square. (00:45:38)
Trivia: Whenever we see Sue nude (which is quite often), her breasts are actually completely fake. Director Coralie Fargeat wanted Sue's figure to be very exaggerated and almost cartoonish, likening her body to Jessica Rabbit from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." Actress Margaret Qualley thus had to wear prosthetics to enhance her figure, including a fake set of hyper-realistic large breasts. Qualley joked that the effects teams gave her "the rack of a lifetime... just not my lifetime."
Question: Why would the New Year's Eve special at the end of the movie allow naked women to be viewed by the audience and on public television without censorship? Also, why would a mother allow her young daughter in the audience (the little girl in the blue dress) to see these naked women on stage?
Answer: The film is depicted in a very fantastical and even "cartoonish" way. It doesn't really take place in "our world" so much as a sort of twisted "fairy-tale" version of it. If you notice, everything is very heightened and extreme. The film explores themes like the impact of aging, beauty standards, and the way women are mistreated and exploited by the industry. So you shouldn't be asking why these things are literally happening, but rather why they're thematically happening. The New Year's Eve special broadcasting nude women builds off the themes; it's more exploitation the film has been analysing. In this "world," it's just accepted. As for the little girl? I took that as a satirical statement on how normalized the mistreatment and exploitation of women in the industry is. It's so normalized that a little girl is idolising it, and her mother is allowing her to see it.
TedStixon