The pursuit of beauty is an ugly one, The Substance says. For actress-turned-TV aerobics instructor Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), beauty means youth, and youth means being deserving of having Hollywood’s spotlight shone on her once more. Enter Sue (Margaret Qualley): the woman who grotesquely emerges from a slit down Elisabeth’s spine after she opts to try a mysterious serum known as “The Substance,” which promises to create a younger, perfect version of its user.
The second feature from writer-director Coralie Fargeat, The Substance is an explosive and gratifying spectacle of blood, guts, and beauty which examines the treatment of women’s aging bodies in an entertainment industry that renders a woman’s youth synonymous with her individual value.
Gone are the days of Elisabeth’s acceptance speeches on stage at the Academy Awards, but she seems to be doing alright as the host of her television aerobics program — that is, until sleazy studio executive Harvey (Dennis Quaid) informs her on her fiftieth birthday that she will be replaced by someone younger. When Elisabeth is introduced to The Substance, she simply can’t resist the opportunity to inhabit a new, younger body that will again be valued by the industry which has now turned its back on her. The only catch is that each woman (though they are really one and the same woman) can only live in her body for seven days at a time until she must ‘reactivate’ her other body.
Moore and Qualley shine in their opposing roles, providing a portrait of a woman fragmented across two differently-aged bodies, experiencing life in two incredibly contrasting ways. How these bodies are treated differently by their owners and by the industry which the women seek to be validated by is at the core of the film’s cultural critique. Sue is immediately given the starring role as Elisabeth’s successor in the aerobics show, and the film provides a bounty of swooping shots that capture her smooth and perfectly rounded doll-like body. As the camera orbits around Sue while she radiates in her high ponytails, colorful eyeshadow, and shimmery ’80s-esque bodysuits, the film poses the question: Why would Sue ever want to reactivate Elisabeth’s body, anyway?
In portraying the growing intensity of the conflict between the women and the predatory industry seeking to capitalize on their beauty, dialogue is ultimately placed second to the striking visual storytelling that occurs across Elisabeth and Sue’s bodies. Moore becomes almost unrecognizable as she dons heavy prosthetics and makeup, physically embodying the harmful psychological effects of measuring one’s worth by one’s youth and beauty.
Towards the end of the film, the narrative seems to lose track of where it wants to end up. As Elisabeth’s body becomes increasingly mutated, the viewers are dragged along while the film seemingly wants to prove to itself that just when it appears to have reached maximum weirdness and grossness, it can, in fact, get weirder and grosser. However, just when the story starts to feel like it has exhausted itself, the bloody climax joyfully breathes new life onto the screen. The film serves up pure bloody spectacle on a shiny red platter, at once awe-inspiring, hilarious, and entirely satisfying. Beauty and monstrosity become cathartically inseparable.
To make the visual and thematic horrors of The Substance even more impactful, the film subjects its viewers to sound design that is at moments abrasive and wince-worthy. The overwhelming blend of human shrieks, monstrous roars, a strategically crafted soundtrack, and Raffertie’s experimental original score make loud speakers a necessity to the viewing experience. This is a film to be felt, not just watched.
The Substance is a thrilling new entry in the body-horror genre that is sure to make an impression on its viewers, whether those impressions are favourable or from a place of repulsion. Nevertheless, the film offers a simultaneously disgusting and pleasurable satire on the entertainment industry’s unattainable beauty standards for women, turning one woman’s pursuit of perfection into an extreme descent into self-destruction.
The Substance recently had its North American premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award. The film is now playing in theatres.
