By Seb Jenkins September 19, 2024
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley star as different versions of the same person in the latest big-screen body horror from the mind of Revenge’s Coralie Fargeat.
A younger, more beautiful, more perfect version of yourself. That’s what the organisation behind The Substance offers. ‘It changed my life’ – The promise that comes with the mysterious elixir is certainly accurate, for better or worse. And while The Substance will not change your life as a movie-goer, it certainly leaves a unique impression on your mind, via hydraulic press. Strap yourself in for a flesh-tearing, blood-splattering, spine-splitting ride that can certainly be described as… memorable.
Synopsis
When Elisabeth Sparkles (Demi Moore) is canned from her popular aerobics show on her 50th birthday, she is forced to walk the entertainment plank of the middle-aged woman. Chewed up and spat out by the most exploitative of industries, Elisabeth embarks on a desperate quest for youth when a mysterious package lands in her lap. The Substance.
Review
The premise is simple, albeit not for the squeamish. Inject yourself with the suspiciously yellow substance and a younger, more beautiful version of yourself will emerge. Enter Sue (Margaret Qualley), like a butterfly bursting through the cocoon of Demi Moore’s back. This younger version of you will live seven days while you sleep, feeding off your very life force. Once a week is up, you swap places and live your life while the copy recharges. And repeat, and repeat, and repeat. The Substance throws up an intriguing and compelling narrative, emphasising that both Elisabeth and Sue remain ‘one’. If one side chooses to gorge, it comes at a detriment to the other.
Born anew with ‘everything in the right place’, Sue decides to go after the very job from which Elisabeth was so brutally discarded. But Sue is not here to subject her industry overlords to revenge; she navigates them with the same helpless, cyclical naivety of a young Elisabeth. The caricature network suits, spearheaded by President Prick of Pale, Male, and Stale Ltd, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), serve as a constant reminder – women are assets to be traded and exploited until the money runs dry. In fact, the juxtaposition of how men treat Elisabeth and Sue is a running theme throughout The Substance.
What emerges is not the tale of two halves, but a battle between two versions of the same people. The more Sue yearns for complete control over their shared life, the more Elisabeth is left to deal with the mental and physical consequences. This particular message is forced down the gullet of the viewer via the use of some visceral, armrest-clenching FX. While Sue looks at Elisabeth with pitiful disregard – a husk of a woman to be hidden away in the dark – Elisabeth looks at the younger version of herself with increasing envious dependency. And with each passing week, the scale tips increasingly toward the power of youth.
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley deliver similarly sensational performances in their respective halves of the same person, while Quaid is salaciously slimy throughout. In a film that relies more on visuals than dialogues, Elisabeth and Sue are both played with such raw vulnerability that you can’t help but glue your eyes to the screen and look away in equal measure.
Coralie Fargeat does an excellent job at highlighting the systemic misogyny of the entertainment industry, and the invisibility of the on-screen middle-aged woman. The juxtaposition between the squelching of shrimps in Harvey’s mouth and the flesh mutilation suffered by Elisabeth audibly demonstrates the difference in the male vs female Hollywood experience. It was also an interesting decision to pit Sue and Elisabeth as adversaries rather than teammates in a battle of validation vs vanity.
While body horror always comes with its controversies, it serves as a unique vessel for the first hour of The Substance, hammering home some of the main themes of self-image and the scarring nature of the industry. One area in which The Substance stands tall is its use of effects and make-up, with the squelching emergence of Sue from Elisabeth’s spine being one of the great examples of practical FX over VFX in modern moviemaking.
My only critique comes from the final 20 minutes of the film, where it felt like the nuanced narrative was shelved as an excuse to spend the rest of that blood, guts and gore budget. The Substance was ultimately one act too long and sacrificed what would have been a poignant ending for a more slapstick conclusion that felt forced and out of place. Fortunately, it remained enjoyable enough in isolation so as not to detract from the overall quality of the film – but a missed chance, nonetheless.
Whatever your opinion on The Substance itself, Moore and Qualley announce themselves as potential powerhouses of the horror genre and seeing them team up in another future project just feels right. Who knows, maybe Coralie Fargeat will call again.
Star Rating
The Substance releases on cinema September 20
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