The Substance

You’ve probably heard of The Substance. The body horror, written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley has been a topic of discussion ever since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. It has garnered headlines after leading to theatre walkouts due to its graphic content and has been labeled as misogynistic overkill by critics. However, it has been embraced with open arms by many others, who feel that the film’s blunt and explicit tone is exactly what gives it nuance.

The story follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore), the middle-aged host of a popular daytime fitness show, who is introduced to the Substance after discovering that she is about to lose her job to a younger woman. Those who inject themselves with the Substance grow a younger version of themselves from within their own body. They can exist as their “alternate” for a week at a time, before they must revert and live as their older self for a week. Failure to adhere comes with a price. The two share a consciousness but cannot be awake at the same time. Most importantly, one cannot exist without the other: they are one. Elisabeth’s alternate, Sue (Qualley), eventually replaces her as the host of her TV show, and resentment starts to grow between them. As Sue begins to feel that one week at a time isn’t enough, she starts taking liberties at Elisabeth’s expense. This leads to rising tensions that eventually spiral out of control as Elisabeth begins to deteriorate more and more with each transition while Sue becomes increasingly disgusted by how Elisabeth spends her week. 

Both Moore and Qualley, along with Dennis Quaid, who plays the effortlessly unlikable executive Harvey, give stellar performances. The casting in this film is incredibly intentional. Moore, with a career spanning over 40 years, is no stranger to having her appearance scrutinised by the tabloids. I would bet money that she has been told by men that she is “past her prime”. She is no longer young enough, sexy enough, profitable enough. Qualley, on the other hand, is. And, like Sue, she has probably found herself in rooms full of powerful, wealthy men, who can do nothing but gawk at her and tell her to smile. These characters are rooted in their reality. 

Visually, the film is stunning. Benjamin Kračun, the cinematographer, does an amazing job of bringing Elisabeth’s overly saturated reality to life. Her egg-yolk yellow jacket serves as a reminder of how ridiculous this all is. Anyone would look silly wearing it. Moments of comedy like this help in keeping up the pace of the film, taking the edge off the more gory scenes. And there are far too many gory scenes in this film. 

I would like to clarify that some graphic scenes were necessary. I would strongly advise those with an aversion to needles and sutures to not watch the film, but scenes showing the injection of the Substance were done tastefully and had the intended effect. I was uncomfortable but intrigued. Towards the end of the film, when we had seen enough blood and decayed body parts, it started to become overkill. While you could find it refreshing that female pain is not being romanticised for once, after the initial shock value wears off these scenes do nothing to develop ideas or the plot further. Their comical nature is the only saving grace towards the end of the 2 hour 20 minutes movie. I’m not going to say that I personally found them tedious, but I understand why someone else would. They distract from the essence of the film, which is about a lonely woman, who does something desperate, and it backfires on her – and this isn’t emphasised enough. 

The Substance is a movie that tells us a lot about where we are now. It’s brazen, blunt, and offers no solutions. It is a mirror and a rabbit hole. Setting the movie in Hollywood, where a woman’s body and youth is her livelihood, raises the stakes even higher. But it removes Elisabeth Sparkle further from reality. Personally, I can’t see all of myself in Elisabeth, but I can see enough of myself in her to be scared. Everybody has done stupid things in order to be liked. Everybody has made rash decisions that they have ended up regretting, albeit with much less dire consequences. But with the same sense of urgency, and the same inflated sense of importance. However, I know that, unlike Elisabeth, I have people in my life who really love me. She was alone when she made the decision to take the Substance, she had no one to challenge her, no one she thought would miss her. That was ultimately what led to her demise. 

After the movie ended, I left the cinema with the desire to look after myself. To do my morning stretches, take my vitamins, and reconnect with friends from my childhood. I don’t want to become bitter and resentful when I’m older, but I also don’t want to spend my youth worrying about that. I truly believe that Elisabeth’s fate would have been different if she knew who she was and had good people around her. It’s a pretty crazy takeaway from a film with that much blood and nudity and Dennis Quaid. To me, that’s its beauty.