If you are looking for an aesthetically pleasing, gore-filled, topical horror movie, you have to see The Substance. This film is a marvel and is definitely one of the best to come out this year. Written, directed, and produced by Coralie Fargeat, The Substance is a harrowing tale about the beauty standards and treatment of women, especially those in Hollywood, face as they age. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley‘s performances are haunting and unforgettable in this film, both being able to perfectly portray the anger and frustration that comes with the double standard of women losing “value” as they age and men being revered no matter how old they are.
The Substance Review
Spoilers Ahead
The Substance begins with a shot of a new star being added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the name Elisabeth Sparkle on it. The camera is fixed on the star and as time passes it becomes weathered. People are seen taking pictures with the star then simply passing by it, and finally the shot ends with someone dropping their burger and getting ketchup all over Elisabeth’s star. This scene sets the tone for the whole movie, using the star to represent not only Elisabeth’s career decline, but Elisabeth herself. As she ages, she gets less and less attention until she is forgotten completely.
Elisabeth is the host of an aerobics television show, having previously been an Academy Award-winning actor. Over time her career has dwindled and now, on her 50th birthday, she overhears her producer Harvey, played by Dennis Quaid, talking on the phone, saying Elisabeth is too old for the show, and that they need to find someone young and beautiful to improve the show’s ratings. The irony of this scene is that while Harvey is having this phone call, he is having trouble urinating due to his age, one of the many ways the film addresses aging double standards.
Harvey and Elisabeth meet up for lunch, where she is officially fired. The meal is uncomfortable for both Elisabeth and the audience members as a distorted close-up shot of Harvey shows him messily eating lobster and casually firing her. Throughout the movie, almost all shots of Harvey are either uncomfortably close up to the camera or on the other end of a very long hallway, both being from Elisabeth’s point of view. This cinematographic choice was incredible; when Harvey is up close in Elisabeth’s personal space, the lens used makes it look like Elisabeth is trapped in a fishbowl and Harvey is close to the glass, watching her. It is a clever way to symbolize that women seem to be trapped and on display for the men’s entertainment. The long hallway shots further emphasize this notion since audience members have to watch Harvey walk the dramatically long distance to just get up in Elisabeth’s space.
After leaving the restaurant, Elisabeth gets distracted while driving when she sees a billboard of herself being torn down and gets into a car accident. Once she is discharged from the hospital, she finds a flash drive, labeled The Substance, in her coat pocket, with a note saying, ‘”It changed my life.” The flash drive contains information on a black market drug called “The Substance.” It offers the opportunity to become a younger, more beautiful, more perfect version of yourself. The first rule is you have to switch every seven days between the perfect version of yourself, and your original self — no exceptions. The second rule is to remember you and your other version are one. There is no you and her, just you. After originally having dismissed the idea of signing up for The Substance, Elisabeth decides to try it.
What follows is a grotesque transformation where the new and “improved” Elisabeth, who goes by the name Sue, emerges from inside Elisabeth, ripping through her back. Elisabeth’s body will survive on a seven-day IV consisting of nutrients until her and Sue switch on the seventh day. Feeling confident and beautiful, Sue decides to audition for the now-open position Elisabeth held on the aerobics show. She is immediately hired, quickly becoming the next big thing.
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As time goes on and Sue and Elisabeth continue switching every seven days, Elisabeth becomes more depressed and starts binge eating over the success of Sue, especially when a huge billboard of Sue is put outside her penthouse window. Meanwhile, Sue becomes angry with Elisabeth’s lack of ambition. Sue begins to abuse The Substance by choosing to remain Sue for more than seven days, which speeds up Elisabeth’s aging. Sue and Elisabeth soon become enemies, sabotaging one another when it is their respective week. This is captivating to watch knowing they are not two different people, but one; although Elisabeth hates Sue and Sue hates Elisabeth, it all comes down to Elisabeth hating herself.
The movie follows the rise of Sue and the fall of Elisabeth, until Sue learns she is going to host a big New Year’s Eve television special. She decides to remain Sue for three whole months without ever switching to prepare for the event. But the day before the New Year’s Eve special, she finds out she is out of time and needs to switch back to Elisabeth. She switches to Elisabeth, who is now decrepit, with broken bones and dead extremities. In a rage, Elisabeth decides to stop taking The Substance and terminate Sue, which she immediately regrets, not wanting to lose her one last tie to youth. She attempts to bring her back to life by injecting her own blood in to Sue’s heart. This wakes Sue up, but Elisabeth still remains conscious, making them two separate entities and breaking their connection. Sue goes into a violent rage when she realizes Elisabeth tried to kill her, attacking her and finally killing her in a brutal and bloody fight.
Sue heads to the New Year’s Eve filming, but quickly discovers that her body is decaying. Her teeth start falling out and one of her ears fall off. In an attempt to make an even better version of herself, Sue runs home and injects her self with the original vial of The Substance, which is explicitly stated to never use more than one. But Sue ignores this warning, now obsessed with being more beautiful and perfect to maintain her fame, just like Elisabeth. It is a devastating scene where the audience must watch Sue breakdown and say she just wants to be the best version of herself. It is a great nod at how women are made to feel like they are never enough — never pretty enough, never perfect enough — by society.
When Sue injects The Substance, to the audience’s horror, a younger, more beautiful version of Sue doesn’t spawn like at the beginning of the movie. Instead, a deformed monster, named Monstro Elisasue, emerges. She has misshapen bones, teeth on her stomach, ears in different places, and most horrifically, Elisabeth’s face stuck in a silent scream on her back. Still needing to perform the New Year’s Eve special, Monstro Elisasue gets ready in a haunting scene where she puts earrings on her misplaced ears, rips the head off of Elisabeth’s poster of herself and tapes it to her own face, and then applies lipstick to the picture.
Monstro Elisasue arrives back on set and walks on stage, surrounded by topless dancers. No one seems to notice her new form until the photo of Elisabeth (pre The Substance) falls to the ground. This was very interesting, considering that the only reason Elisabeth took The Substance was to be beautiful again, yet no one at the New Year’s Eve taping appears displeased or upset with seemingly Elisabeth on stage rather than Sue. They even clap and smile. But when Monstro Elisasue is revealed, the audience erupts into chaos with men hopping on stage to attack her as she tries to explain it’s still her, it’s still Sue.
The Substance ends in an outlandishly horrific blood bath after Monstro Elisasue’s head is decapitated. This scene is very Carrie-esque, with everyone drenched in blood, and although this might not seem to fit with the rest of the movie considering the larger-than-life effects, it really drives the whole purpose of The Substance home. The sequence addresses the importance that is place on appearance, and the idea that women lose their purpose when they are no longer deemed conventionally beautiful — this is solidified as a group of men jump on stage and attempt to kill Monstro Elisasure.
Monstro Elisasue breaks away and runs outside, finally falling and dying on the pavement. Elisabeth’s face that had been lodged in Monstro Elisasue’s back breaks free and, in a small puddle of blood, crawls its way to Elisabeth’s Hollywood Star, mirroring the beginning shot of ketchup spread over the star. Finally we see a sidewalk cleaning roll right over the star, taking the remains of Elisabeth with it.
There are so many things that this movie did fantastically. From the topical commentary on where a woman’s value comes from to learning how to accept who you are, The Substance covered it all. It is definitely not for those with a weak stomach, but an amazing film nonetheless.
The cinematography in this film is breathtaking. Not only are the sets gorgeous, but many of them are retro, which is a great detail to further add to the theme of losing beauty as time passes. The vibrant colors contrast perfectly with the depressing and horrifying reality Elisabeth is living in. The up close shots of Dennis Quaid are grotesque (in a good way) and immediately put the audience on edge.
The acting is this movie is top tier. Demi Moore stole the show with one of her best performances to date. Her frustration and self hatred could be felt through the screen. Margaret Qualley's performance was fantastic. She was able to play Elisabeth's better self seamlessly while also making the character her own.
The special effects were incredibly horrific. Elisabeth's back opening up to reveal Sue, Sue's body deteriorating, Elisabeth's body morphing until she is unrecognizable, and of course Monstro Elisasue. Montro Elisasue was haunting and so well done, and the addition of Elisabeth's face in a silent scream on the back of the body was wonderful. The blood bath in the final scene was also perfectly over the top and dramatically gory and was a wonderful and perfectly poignant end.
While we loved the final scene, it is very over the top and almost feels like it does not belong in the film. It is either a hit or a miss with audiences and can take the viewer out of the experience and vibe of the movie.
This movie is very gory with a lot of blood and uncomfortable contortions of character's bodies throughout. If you are not a gore fan, we'd suggest you sit this one out.
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