Wine and Movie Pairing: Younger, More Bubbly, More Perfect
"IT CHANGED MY LIFE!"
Halloween may be over, but the thrill of the season’s best horror film is just getting started. Let’s pair a bubbling frizzante bianco with The Substance!
The Substance is the new release that has taken Film Substack (and the rest of the Internet) by storm. Fading celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is summarily dismissed from her job as a daytime TV aerobics show host on her 50th birthday. When Elisabeth walks away from a gnarly car crash without much bruising, she mysteriously receives a USB drive with the words “The Substance” and a phone number written on it, wrapped in a hand-scrawled note - “IT CHANGED MY LIFE!”. Further exploration reveals that The Substance will create a “younger, more beautiful, more perfect” version of the original participant; for Elisabeth, that means Sue (Margaret Qualley). What happens next is so off-the-walls that not only is it filled with spoilers, it would defeat the purpose of enjoying the thrill ride that is this movie.
This new classic body horror film caused a ruckus at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it won over audiences and eventually won the Screenplay award. I’m inclined to agree that the screenplay is tightly crafted, but it’s the pitch perfect direction of The Substance that makes it so shocking and enjoyable to watch. Coralie Fargeat was clearly inspired by movies like The Elephant Man (1980) and The Fly (1986), but this modern feminist twist on both The Picture of Dorian Gray and Faust explores the pain and pleasure of beauty with such bravado that the film has vaulted itself beyond the body horror genre and into a much larger pantheon of well made films.
Demi Moore has undergone a public career renaissance as a result of the good press surrounding The Substance, and I’m inclined to agree that The Substance is some of her best work to date. Fearless and down to explore whatever happens next, Elisabeth Sparkle is the embodiment of all the joy and rage that every person in a public facing role experiences, with L.A.-based actresses in particular finding the most resonance. Margaret Qualley turns in a cheeky exploration of fame as Sue, using her own life experience as a ballet dancer and her own grappling with life in the public eye with a knowing wink to the audience. As Harvey, Dennis Quaid is downright vile; in a role that had gone to Ray Liotta before his passing in 2022, Dennis Quaid turns his All-American dad persona of the 90s on its head and digs into everything particularly heinous about white men with power.
Again, to say more would be to spoil the movie, so just come back to the comments section when you’ve seen The Substance so we can talk about it because I can’t stop thinking about this movie. There are still some theaters that are screening the movie, but Mubi has now released The Substance on streaming for you to enjoy in the comfort of your home.
In coming up with the perfect wine pairing for this female-led movie with so much to say, I had wanted to dig into the 90s feminine stereotypes that are starting to see a resurgence today and pair the movie with a Midori sour. But that would have been too easy. (And we did just do a cocktail pairing for Saturday Night.) And then, lo and behold, the perfect wine found me like a USB drive from out of the blue - Mary Taylor’s “Sofia Brescia” Frizzante Bianco, the fizzy substance in a green bottle that “changed my life”.
Mary Taylor started her own import business as a way for entry level American consumers to find and appreciate wine the way Europeans habitually drink it. By working with local winemakers to bottle solidly crafted wines from major European wine regions at accessible price points, Mary Taylor is destigmatizing the academic and accessibility factors that often prevent Americans from getting into wine. The White Label cuvées specifically serve as solid entry level points into Chenin Blanc from Anjou in the Loire Valley, red blends from Dão in Portugal, and in this instance, a fun frizzante bianco made with Glera and Garganega from Veneto in Italy.
The Sofia Brescia Frizzante Bianco is a good time wine. Full stop. It may not inspire a lot of deep, profound thought, but when you want something to give the roller coaster ride a boost? This is it. The frizzante is under screw cap, but retains its caviar-sized semi-sparkling bubble pattern all night long. Glera and Garganega enter into a 60/40 deal here (two grapes in a power struggle for the same space, if you will), and the youthful green apple crispness of the Glera combines nicely with the fuller bodied, slightly overripe Bosc pear characteristic of Garganega. Clocking in at 13 grams of residual sugar per liter, this is probably one of the sweetest non-dessert wines I’ve recommended, but that R.S. works in the wine’s favor to create a drinking experience that’s easy to love and leaves you wanting more.
Food pairing? Ideally, shrimp cocktail (if you can stomach it). Otherwise, roast chicken, day-old spinach quiche, and reruns work. For maximum thrills, consume the wine with a straw and a big bowl of buttered popcorn.
Mary Taylor’s NV “Sofia Brescia” Frizzante Bianco is available through wine.com. You can also check WineSearcher for details on stockists near you. Thank you for shopping at your local independent wine store!
The Substance (2024) is now available to stream on Mubi. You can also access The Substance through Prime Video to start a 7-day free trial of Mubi.