Looksmaxxing (2026)Gallery / 9 images
It’s tempting to frame Looksmaxxing (2026) as the male answer to 2024’s feminist body horror The Substance. Following a “dopamine-depleted young man” named Niles, played by actor and skateboarder Sunny Suljic, the short film follows his spiralling obsession with hyper-masculine beauty standards, via toxic influencers, a DIY drug protocol sourced from the shady fringes of the web, a talking tumour, and bone smashing. By now, US-based writer and director Elan Alexander is used to the comparison. But, as he points out, the script predated Coralie Fargeat’s hit film by some time. In fact, Looksmaxxing emerged out of his obsession with looksmaxxing forums way back in 2022.
Maybe both filmmakers were just responding to something unavoidable in...
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