Snow White 2025 Review

 First off, this movie is nowhere as bad as what those review bombing it would make it out to be (IMDb currently has it rated at a 1.6/10 with over 80 percent of votes rating it a 1). While the movie is far from perfect, it's also not the catastrophe that it's being made out to be in the media. Much of the films scrutiny appears to be directed towards the casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White mainly due to her off camera comments regarding the original films plot and the overuse of CGI for the Dwarfs rather than relying on actual actors to play the characters. The film borrows the same basic storyline as the original animated Disney classic with Zegler playing the resilient princess who escapes assassination by The Evil Queen (Gal Gadot) who is revealed to be her stepmother in this version of the story. She forms an alliance with seven magical characters and a rogue bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap) in an effort to reclaim her kingdom. Regardless of how one feels about Rachel Zegler off camera, she proves to be a decent fit for the role with her delivering a well-layered performance that showcases not only her impressive vocal talents but also proves to be charismatic and emotional simultaneously, undoubtedly making her one of the films main highlights. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about Gal Gadot's performance as the Evil Queen which ultimately comes across as being unconvincing with her attempts at scaring a room with her diabolical presence being laughable. What also doesn't help her performance are the two songs she sings in the film including "All is Fair."

The Substance

Beautiful, bold, and provocative. Those are the best words to describe The Substance with Demi Moore delivering a career-defining performance in a shocking body horror flick that explores themes regarding aging, beauty standards, and the female experience. The plot has fading actress Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) becoming distressed when her chauvinistic boss (Dennis Quaid) fires her from her aerobics show. Desperate to stay relevant, she injects herself with a mysterious serum that produces a younger, better version of herself (Played by Margaret Qualley), but in doing so, things go horribly wrong. What makes The Substances story standout is not only the fact that it's emotionally charged but how deeply personal and globally relevant it feels to its female audience. The performances from the cast really sell this one with Demi Moore providing the films heart with her emotionally powerful performance that's as shocking as the films gruesome bits. One can really tell that this role spoke to her and she gives her all here along with showing how undervalued she is as a performer. She masterfully switches from possessing initial fear of being shut out of the entrainment industry to her age and her desperation to stay relevant. Her eventual descent into a terrifying and almost monstrous figure is both thrilling and heartbreaking to witness.