This article contains references to sexual assault.
From creator Ryan Murphy, FX’s The Beauty has been a success with fans of body horror. Centering on an STD that makes those infected beautiful, but not without side effects, the series explores and critiques Ozempic culture and the conformity to unrealistic beauty standards.
Body horror is a mixed bag, ranging from gratuitous gore to thought-provoking critiques that combine unsettling scenes with commentary. For those who prefer the latter, like The Beauty, there’s no shortage of films that use body horror to explore societal expectations and the commodification of desire, all while delivering the subgenre’s typical stomach-inducing revulsion.
Videodrome is a Body Horror Classic About Media and Technology
Image via Universal Pictures
Considered one of the best body horrors of all time, David Cronenberg’s Videodrome is a surprisingly thought-provoking film. The film follows TV channel president Max Renn (James Woods), who’s desperate to attract viewers.
When he discovers Videodrome, a TV show about gratuitous torture and punishment, Max sees a potential hit and broadcasts it. However, after his girlfriend, Nicki (Deborah Harry), auditions for the show and disappears, Max investigates Videodrome and goes down a hallucinatory rabbit hole of conspiracy, sadomasochism, and unwatchable bodily transformations.
Videodrome is about the allure of extreme media and the impact of violence. While its themes are less on-the-nose than The Beauty, the film explores similar ideas surrounding the loss of self-identity, just in this case, not through beauty standards or physical perfection, but through media and technology when one becomes subservient to the screen.
Together is a Satirical Exploration of Codependent Relationships
Image via Neon
Directed by Michael Shanks, Together follows Millie (Alison Brie) and Tim (Dave Franco), a young couple who move to the countryside to start fresh and escape city life. But after falling into an underground cave during a hike and drinking from a pool of water, the couple begins physically combining together.
Together doesn’t share many themes with The Beauty, as it’s a metaphor for lost identities and codependent relationships. However, it does share its satirical sense of humor.
The film is a comedic exploration of toxic relationships, challenging the societal perception that being in a couple is the only path to happiness. It’s extremely gross in parts, as expected given its premise, but an entertaining watch for anyone who enjoys satirical yet thought-provoking takes on body horror.
Starry Eyes Explores the Costs of Fame
Auditioning is a nightmare for Sarah (Alexandra Essoe) in Starry Eyes.Image via Dark Sky Films
If there’s any film that questions the lengths one would go to achieve fame, it’s Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer’s Starry Eyes. Released in 2014, the film follows Sarah (Alexandra Essoe), an aspiring actress who agrees to a starring role with a cult-like production company. Agreeing to their intrusive demands, she begins experiencing euphoric trances and physical deterioration.
Starry Eyes comments on beauty standards and the dark side of the film industry. Sarah is asked to perform certain tasks to better her chances at landing the dream role, including sleeping with the producer and stripping on camera, with the body horror being a metaphor for her decreasing self-worth.
Without giving too much away, as it’s a film best going in blind, Starry Eyes explores the extreme and violent lengths an aspiring actress will go to achieve stardom. The ending, in particular, is not for the weak-stomached, but the film is deserving of all praise for its critique of the predatory side of Hollywood and the expectations of female actors.
Crimes of the Future Is All About Appearance Obsession
Not to be confused with the 1970 film of the same name, also directed by David Cronenberg, the director’s 2022 version of Crimes of the Future tells a completely different story. The latter film is set in an unspecified future, where mankind has experienced biological changes, including the disappearance of physical pain.
Performance artist Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) and his partner, Caprice (Lea Seydoux), publicly undergo surgery to remove his mutated organs. This artistic and sexualized surgery attracts attention from the National Organ Registry, which is tracking the next phase of human evolution.
On paper, Crimes of the Future sounds bizarre, not uncommon for The Fly director. However, the film does explore several important themes, not limited to posthumanism, environmentalism, and government control. It’s about society’s obsession with the body, critiquing how people obsess over appearance, modification, and perfection, especially through the sexualization of the transformations.
Crimes of the Future is one of Cronenberg’s strangest films to date, and its body horror is undeniably gruesome throughout. For those looking for something akin to The Beauty, especially in terms of the sexualization of aesthetic desires, Crimes of the Future offers a different take on the subjects it tackles.
American Mary is Feministic Body Horror
Mary (Katharine Isabelle) prepares to operate in American Mary.Image via XLrator Media
Directed by the Soska Sisters, American Mary follows Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle), a medical student who performs body modifications to earn money for school. After being assaulted by her professor, she quits school, works on the modifications full-time, and takes revenge on her attackers.
American Mary is part revenge horror, but its main focus is its themes of body modification and the desire for self-expression. The women Mary works with voluntarily undergo non-conventional surgeries, including doll-like features, to match their identity.
It’s a feminist body horror that focuses on women reclaiming ownership over their bodies, with Mary using her surgical skills to help others become their most desired selves. Her assault works into this, as she regains control over her identity and exacts revenge by modifying her attackers to look how she pictures them.
Grotesque, gory, and not for the faint of heart, American Mary is one of the most feminist horror films of the past 20 years. It’s essentially a story about control over one’s body.
Demi Moore in The SubstanceImage via Mubi
The Substance, the second directorial feature from Coralie Fargeat, is perhaps the closest body horror film fans of The Beauty will get. The film follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a once-popular actress and aerobic superstar who’s fired from her studio on her 50th birthday for being “too old.”
Desperate to reclaim her youth, Elisabeth accepts an invitation to try the Substance, an injection that makes a younger and socially ideal clone of oneself. Sue (Margaret Qualley), her clone, soon becomes America’s sweetheart and a global sensation, taking Elisabeth’s place in the studio. But as Sue becomes infatuated by her new life and ignores the rules of the injection, Elisabeth’s body slowly deteriorates.
The Substance is all about society’s perception of beauty standards. Elisabeth is considered outdated and unideal by almost everyone in the industry, and in turn, she begins viewing herself the same way. She becomes obsessed with the Substance, which is a metaphor for cosmetic surgery and consumerism, and lives through Sue to become what she and society consider the best version of herself.
Even as the effects of the injection begin to kick in, including body deformations and rotting skin, she refuses to give it up. The Substance is a sharp commentary that uses its grotesque body horror to critique how society views women and the unrealistic beauty standards they’re expected to adhere to.
