Trigger Warning: The following article references body dysmorphia.
Anthologies are, by nature, a great way to showcase a variety of different talents, andGuillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiositiesis no different. This 2022 Netflix series features eight haunting tales with del Toro introducing each episode in aRod Sterling-inspired fashion. Each episode is helmed by a different filmmaker, fromVincenzo Natali, the creator ofCube, to the director ofMandy,Panos Cosmatos.Most are also based on older short stories, which is whyAna Lily Amirpour’s episode, “The Outside,”really stands out.It’s the only one based on a modern horror story(published, that is – two episodes were based on unpublished stories by del Toro) and set in the modern day.
The distinction is even more important because of the themes that “The Outside” takes on.Like thenew Demi Moore body horror movieThe Substance, this episode centers around a woman, played byKate Micucchi, who strives toachieve the impossible beauty standardsof today’s society, with horrific results. Media like “The Outside” andThe Substanceare so important because they explore an issue that millions of people (mostly female-identifying folk) struggle with every day: the pressure of being conventionally beautiful,no matter the cost.
Episode 4 ofGuillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities,“The Outside,” stars Kate Micucchi as Stacey, an awkward, “unattractive” woman by conventional standards whowishes she were more beautiful. In an attempt to fit in with her co-workers,she begins using a lotion called Alo Glo,which causes an extreme allergic reaction.But a supernatural force from the TVeggs Stacey on, feeding into her insecurities and promising that she’ll turn from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan if shekeeps using the lotion. The episode is based on a short 2016 webcomic calledSome Other Animal’s MeatbyE.M. Carrol.
While the adaptation significantly expands the events of the comic, the basic premise is still the same:a woman feelsuncomfortable with her bodyand has a strange connection to the lotion Alo Glo. Most of the other episodes of theshow tackle cosmic or supernatural horror, and all feature male protagonists. “The Oustide,” on the other hand, istold from a woman’s perspective, and explores a horror that’smuch closer at hand:the pressure women feel to fit a very specific mold, regardless of what it takes. This is a problem that stretches back since the beginnings of society, butsetting the story in the modern day, especially whenthe others are period pieces, makes it clear that this isstill an ongoing issueand not a relic of the past.
‘The Outside’ Uses Body Horror to Explore Body Dysmorphia
In “The Outside,” Stacey is surrounded at work bybeautiful but incredibly shallow and judgmental women; despite their unpleasant nature, awkward Staceydesperately wants to fit inwith these beautiful women. Her loving husband, played byMartin Starr,constantly reassures her that he loves her and that he thinks she’s beautiful the way she is, but it isn’t enough to overpowerStacey’s feelings of inadequacy. Her distaste for her own body is similar tothe concept of body dysmorphia,which is where a person excessively worries that something is wrong with their body. While “The Outside” does give Stacey features deemed “unattractive” by societal standards, like a lazy eye and crooked teeth, there is still the sense thatshe judges herselffar more harshly than anyone else.
So much so that Stacey doesn’t seehow horrific her transformation from the lotion is; the episode uses body horror (but not to the levels of, say,CronenbergorThe Substance) to highlight the lengths someone would go to achieve traditional beauty. The lotion Stacey uses breaks her out into a red, painful rash all over her body. It’s an effective showcase of body horror because of how close to reality it is; plenty of people have experienced a rash, but this episode takes it to a level that’sunsettling yet still recognizable.
How ‘The Substance’ Encouraged Demi Moore To Shake Off Her Own Body Image Hangups
Written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, the body horror film opened to acclaim at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Then, onceStacey completely snaps andsacrifices her entire being– and, without being too spoilery, someone else’s – into the Alo Glo transformation, a different form of “body” horror occurs, as the lotion literally forms into a body in front of Stacey. It’s a tall, thin figure, the kind of body Stacey longs to have, butthere’s a distinctly uncanny valley nature to it; the lotion figure is completely featureless and has strangely fluid movements that aren’t quite human. ButStacey isso fixated on achieving that body typethat she isn’t scared.On the contrary, she makes out with the figure and submerges her entire body into the lotion when the figure dissipates into the bathtub. Despite the physical pain the lotion causes her, and the clearly supernatural nature of both the TV speaking to her and the lotion golem, Stacey can’t help but still want tochange to fit society’s standards.
“The Outside” Addresses the Pressure Put on Women by the Beauty Industry
The themes of body dysmorphia in “The Outside” aredirectly from the original webcomic, but the episode also expands its themes with additional commentary onthe harmful power of the beauty industry. Stacey isn’t just unhappy with her body; she’sactively manipulated into feeling that way. A perfectly coiffed infomercial announcer,played with pure absurdity byDan Stevens, speaks directly to Stacey through her TV, telling her that if she uses Alo Glo, she will become beautiful –implicitly telling her that she’s right to feel ugly. The announcer pushes her to keep using the lotion,convincing her thatthe pain it causes her is necessary for it to work. Her coworkers have already bought into the hype of the lotion; they care so much about their appearances that every single one of them gifts Alo Glo to the other for Secret Santa. And even though they don’t force Stacey to use the lotion, their borderline euphoria when using it, combined with her already present desire to fit in, primes her to be open to the spokesperson’s pressure.
By the end of the episode, Stacey has literally allowed the Alo Glo to take over her body and mind until she’s outwardly beautiful, butit comes at the cost of her husband,her personality, and her sanity. “The Outside” is a funny, tragic, and terrifying reflection of the unrealistic beauty standards women continue to face every day, and is the perfect warm-up for the thematically similarThe Substance, which is in theaters now.
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiositiesis available to watch on Netflix in the U.S.
