Feminist body horror is taking over independent cinemas.

The female filmmakers behind this new wave of meat and glitter find key and commercial success by combining the weirdness of the internal organs with the exploration of body autonomy, beauty standards and social expectations of women.

Coralie Fargeat's Indie Blockbuster substance - Made $77 million worldwide and received 5 Oscar nominations - is the current queen of female horror, but feminist films are everywhere. Sundance's midnight show this year includes Emilie Blichfeldt's Ugly heir - Cinderella's story, a story about plastic surgery and body dismemberment - Grace Glowicki deceasedIt's a horror comedy about the grave (Glowicki) who goes out of his way to re-enact her late companion.

Berlin's lineup features Johanna Moder Mother's childrena German psychological horror movie about a woman who is not sure the baby she brought back from the hospital is actually hers, Honeydirector of Madeleine Sims and dusty Dusty Mancinelli, they checked for stories of toxic relationships using body horror.

Berlin's European film market is all out. beside Honey and deceasedsold by XYZ movies and yellow veil pictures, EFM's exquisite products include magnification Blood Countessa shocking period of the vampire aristocrat and beta/uta independent film group played by Isabelle Huppert Diamond Shittera socially key body horror thriller. Bright stars Actress Antonia Campbell-Hughes is about a working-class girl who can absorb precious gems from the body.

“These new female filmmakers really play a role in using body horror,” Emily, vice president of global acquisitions and co-production for AMC Networks Ugly heir For AMC's horror streaming service, before its Sundance Bow. “The feminist news in these films does look at how life is today, how we act in society and relationships, and do it in a sensational, thought-provoking, bold and brave way, but it’s also fun. ”

Must quote Karyn Kusama's cult favorite Jennifer's body Beginning in 2009, as an early entry for Canon, she believes French director Julia Ducournau has ushered in this new wave of feminist body horror. Ducournau's debut in 2016 BornIt's an adult story about a fanatical meat teenager who has achieved cross-border success and earned over $3 million at the box office. Her follow-up work "Single and Fun" titanium - Famous for its scenes of sex in cars, car lactation and serial killing of hair - won the 2021 Cannes Palme d'Or, which is the French Oscar.

Ducournau, Fargeat and Blichfeldt all quoted Canadian director David Cronenberg as main inspiration. Cronenberg uses horror and weird body images of internal organs - in fanaticism (1977) A woman feeds on people's blood with her clitoris. Cultivate heart (1979) is about an angry woman whose anger gave birth to a mutational child-resonating with these young directors, hoping to express the feeling of being a woman in the world now.

"I've never seen a horror movie. I'm too soft. I can't jump to fear. I'm afraid of the darkness," Blichfeldt said. "But Kroenberg's physical horror is somewhat interesting. As viewers, we connect with his character through their physical experiences, but in some places, these physical experiences are filled with metaphors and deep philosophical thoughts. This does make What I want to do conveys the female experience, and I think it's a very experienced time."

"The way we live in public places, the way our bodies look and what it means when our bodies grow up, get pregnant and mutate," Fargeat added. "This is body horror. Being a woman is a physical horror. ”

This new feminist horror film resonates with people, and both audiences and critics may have as much quality as the movie is.

exist substanceElizabeth (Demi Moore) is a faded celebrity who was fired for her TV job too old - "Stop at 50," said her creepy studio owner, named Harvey (Dennis Quaid) . "What to stop?" she asked.

In an effort to restore biology to her body, Elizabeth took a black market drug that split her spine, while Sue's body was a young sexy woman (Margaret Fuckley) Qualley)) Climb out.

"exist substance You have Coralie Fargeat considering Hollywood and sarcasm characters like Harvey Weinstein, when many women were twisting the outcome of the #MeToo movement (when) the pendulum felt like it was swaying. ” Hollywood Reporter Arts and Culture critic Lovia Gyarkye.

British film critic and commentator Hannah Strong added: “#MeToo is seen as a sea change in the film world and the wider culture, but from my perspective, at least from my perspective Look, it doesn't feel much changed. " "The representatives inside Hollywood are still very, very bad, and globally you can't read TV or essays without hearing some kind of woman or woman being usually subjected to some kind of atrocities . There is a lot of frustration, anger, pain and movies titanium or substance This is a reaction to patriarchy and the pressures faced by women. ”

The new female horror director cadre is choosing the style of a previously appeared filmmaker. Male horror directors like Cronenberg or John Carpenter often see their bodies as the source of alienation and fear – think of the carpenter’s matter (1982), about an alien invader who is preying on its human shape, or Clorenberg fly (1986), The Story of a Man Turning into an Insect-Instrument in Feminist Body Horror, although still weird, is seen more intimately.

“In both substance and Ugly heiryou will see that the body is both an ally and an enemy of women. "Gyarkye added. "Su, the physical manifestation of this young self substanceviolates Elizabeth's mean and is older. exist Ugly heirthe heir needs her body to charm and attract the prince to find economic and financial redemption, but it is also her greatest enemy. ”

“I think female filmmakers working in horror spaces in the body are perfect for the fact that the stories they tell represent the experiences of many other women,” added the Strong, “they are portraying traditionally terrifying space designated men. Tell the story of women, not the story of women.”

From the 80s-style satirical dramas of Fargaet, the feminist body horror genre has proven to be very stretchy substanceto Blitzfelt Ugly heirThis mimics the visual and story beats of Czech fantasy films in the 1970s. The devil's bathroom (2024), co-directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, they examine depression, suicide and religious oppression in rural Austria in the 18th century using the body horror of theot type.

"The female experience is a reservoir, endless reservoir for body horror," Fargeat said. "Now that more female directors are starting to make movies like this, the box is indeed thrown away."

AMC's Gotto notes that horror audiences "always lean towards women", but with the horror of a feminist new wave of "bolder, more unique or provocative" that "does find their place in the foreground, not in the background. . I mean, we had a body horror movie at the Oscars, directed by a woman! It's an incredible sign that these movies can't be seen as niches or houses of art in isolation, Instead, it goes beyond the mainstream.”