Think of the nastiest, squelchiest, most squirm-inducing body horror you’ve seen in a movie, something like The Thing, The Fly, Slither, Possessor, Videodrome, or any other gross favorite. Amplify that two or three times and you’ve got The Substance, the latest feature from the increasingly promising French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat. Barf bags not included but recommended.
Yes, The Substance cooks up a fine array of impressively disgusting gore and effects that may make even the most hardened horror veterans gag, but while all that nastiness is certainly a big feature, it’s hardly all that it has to offer. Fargeat has basically made the end-all-be-all movie about the fear of losing youth and beauty, of society’s obscene obsession with the two, and the extreme lengths we go to try and get them back.
The film takes place on the star-studded hills of Hollywood, the city of dreams and angels, which aging superstar Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) gets a stunning view of from her luxurious condominium. Sparkle has been the crown jewel of Tinseltown for decades, with her talent and stunning looks winning hearts and taking her from modeling to Oscars to exercise programs and everything in between - but now it seems her time in the spotlight is up.
Unceremoniously fired from her show by Harvey (Dennis Quaid), her effectively repulsive producer, Elisabeth is kicked to the curb and labeled a has-been, a relic, and worse, just plain old and unattractive now. “Once you hit fifty, it stops.” is how Harvey so eloquently puts it to her, and the once most desirable woman in the world is reduced to another victim of impossible beauty standards. But America’s former sweetheart isn’t going quietly, so when a new mysterious miracle drug called The Substance is introduced to her, she jumps at the chance to try it, serious side effects be damned.
Just one dose of the ominous green goo is all it takes for Elisabeth to be reborn as a younger version of herself, and the new and improved “Sue” (Margaret Qualley) instantly becomes an idol sensation with millions of adoring fans. There are a few caveats, of course. Namely, there’s the fact that if Sue doesn’t switch back to Elisabeth every seven days there could be some major complications.
Missing teeth? Massive sores? Those are mild symptoms of what happens to Elisabeth / Sue if she doesn’t follow The Substance’s exact directions. And as you can guess with this being a horror movie and all, she definitely tries to get away with cheating her time spent in her younger body, leading to some horrific consequences (much to our disgust and delight).
Fargeat’s second feature film is directed with a everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach that turns The Substance into a sort of grotesque, fucked up fairtytale gone wrong. Almost everything in the movie is exaggerated to an absurd degree, creating a goofy, satirical reflection of our own world. Quaid especially seems to have understood the assignment, with his voraciously misogynistic character always framed with increasingly closeup foulness by cinematographer Benjamin Kracun (Promising Young Woman).
The film maintains that sense of humor throughout and really goes for broke with some seriously big swings towards its end. The Substance’s gross, garish ending may lose some people with just how outrageous it becomes, but that excess is undoubtedly entertaining. It’s one of those movies where it feels like every idea made it in, as if Fargeat is telling us that subtlety can go fuck itself.
Even with all that playful brazenness, the strongest part of The Substance is how it uses those extremes to get its points across. Thanks to an all around outstanding and possibly career-best central performance from Demi Moore, the film reveals itself to be a surprisingly profound (in its own stomach churning way) depiction of society-induced self-loathing. Consider how its most powerful scene is one where Elisabeth, preparing for a date, grows increasingly unsatisfied and agitated with her appearance.
This is the kind of horror movie that practical gore effects were made for, and another remarkable showcase from the truly singular voice of Fargeat. The French filmmaker already made a fiery mission statement with 2017’s Revenge; with The Substance, she explosively proves that she’s an artist who cannot be ignored.
‘The Substance’ is now playing in theaters.
