The Substance (2024) is the Dazzling, Horrifying, and Important Body Horror We Need
Title: The Substance
First Non-Festival Release: September 18, 2024 (Theatrical Release)
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Writer: Coralie Fargeat
Runtime: 141 Minutes
Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
Unrealistic beauty standards have destroyed the self-esteem of many, even, and sometimes especially, the celebrities who perpetuate them. Hollywood thrives on the ability to sell sex and use people, particularly women, until they have nothing left to offer them in their eyes.
Forced out of her fitness show due to her age, decorated actress Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is offered the opportunity to live out her youth once again by taking a mysterious substance. This drug allows Elisabeth to split herself into two, her alter ego Sue (Margaret Qualley). So long as she maintains balance by switching between the two for exactly one week at a time, she will be able to continue living the life she once held herself. The delicate balance is upset as the two parts of her struggle for dominance leading to an all-out war threatening both of their very existences.
Sharp, satirical, and affecting, The Substance is an excellent slice of body horror with provocative social commentary.
Exciting and original, The Substance delights with its captivating storytelling and its feminist approach to horror. Women have long been subjected to the harsh gaze of men throughout the entertainment industry’s history. With Elisabeth’s firing, The Substance takes viewers on her odyssey of self-discovery by learning all the wrong lessons Hollywood teaches. Valuing youth, thinness, and compliance, Elisabeth’s transformation into Sue shows that Hollywood’s commitment to her ends as soon as she can no longer excite a wide base of male viewers. With Elisabeth’s income cut off, she has to make a choice of navigating a world post-Hollywood unsure if she can handle the transition or keep going at the expense of her own body. She chooses the latter. The Substance largely doesn’t criticize her for making this decision. It does, however, question why she should have to.
While it’s easy to view from a singular lens, there is plenty to mine in The Substance regarding self-esteem in a digital world. Elisabeth clearly struggles with self-worth in aging, and while women are taught to care more about societal pressures than man, her issues are universal. When Elisabeth meets an old man at a diner (Christian Erickson) and discovers he is the alter of the doctor (Robin Greer) that recommended the substance, a chill runs down her spine. Their motivations likely differ but the idea of becoming younger is an intoxicating one all the same. While they fit within the narrative by virtue of this plot device and can relate to similar feelings of inadequacy, men’s feelings [correctly] are not the focus of The Substance either.
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For all its merits, the final swing in the film’s finale feels like a decidedly mean-spirited departure from the empathy the film builds up for both Elisabeth and Sue. After battling it out in their apartment and attempting to destroy the other, the pair eventually merges when Sue decides to make a copy of herself upon realizing she still needs her. What ensues is more sad than scary. A deformed version of Sue and Elisabeth emerges and then storms through their New Year’s Eve show. Met with laughter, fear, and derision, she is thought to be a beast to be destroyed. The confrontation plays out more like a farce than the sad reality of both Elisabeth and Sue destroying themselves via clinical intervention. Maybe that’s the point, but it still feels cruel after building so much empathy for the two beforehand.
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Fascinating characters in their own right, Elisabeth and Sue’s tragic spiral demands your attention for how unfair their fates are. Clearly ambitious with gas left in the tank to create and inspire, Elisabeth views retirement as a punishment and Sue’s rise to stardom an affront to her talent. Furthermore, Sue’s inability to switch in a timely manner results in visual deformities for Elisabeth. Only Elisabeth. Clearly, she might take issue with being treated as an afterthought to her high life needs. On the other hand, Sue holds resentment for how Elisabeth treats the body when she is in stasis. Elisabeth’s binge eating results in painful and vivid hallucinations that distract Sue from working. Sue’s own ambition thinks of Elisabeth’s needs as secondary, especially when she needs to train longer and harder for her big shows. Sue literally drains the life from Elisabeth through her carelessness. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are revelations, playing both sides of a complicated character that demands understanding so well.
Coralie Fargeat’s impressive direction ensures The Substance oozes the style and glamor necessary for its incisive take on Hollywood. Both fashion icons in their own right, Sue and Elisabeth use their own versions of glamor to signal what they think of themselves. Bright colors, distinct patterns, and unusual shapes bring the gaudy world of Hollywood to life in imaginative ways. The camera pans intentionally to highlight their features unapologetically while taking a more nauseating approach to the film’s more sexist male characters. This juxtaposition shows how differently men and women are treated in the space while highlighting the conflicting expectations and roles.
The final twenty minutes aside, The Substance is a pitch perfect body horror that dives deep into the societal ills that fuel body dysmorphic capitalism. Fargeat continues to deliver excellent feminist horror to the cannon and should be commended for her sharp vision and bold choices. Stunning performances, excellent character work, and an inspired story make The Substance not only one of the best horror films of the year but maybe the decade too. Don’t take my word for it, take The Substance yourself and discover the real you today.
Overall Score? 9/10
