In today’s culture of unattainable beauty standards, Coralie Fargeat’s satirical body horror The Substance holds up a mirror to society in a theatrical experience which leaves audiences wincing.
A surreal and outrageous execution from director Fargeat, The Substance follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) on her 50th birthday as the Hollywood actress turned TV fitness instructor is sacked by repugnant TV executive Harvey (Dennis Quaid) for being too old. After seeing a billboard of herself getting taken down, Sparkle gets into a car crash and is admitted into hospital where a nurse gives her a USB which references the titular substance. Both enraged by being fired and desperate for her former glory, Moore’s character gets hooked up with the medical equipment, large needles (look away if you have a phobia), and fluorescent green ‘activator’ liquid from which a shiny, perfect version of herself will emerge. The ‘birth’ from Elisabeth involves the excruciating splitting open of her spine in a sequence that leaves you squirming in your seat, thus introducing the idea of seductive, vibrant, and youthful womanhood in Sue (Margaret Qualley). The two are required to switch bodies every week without exception, with one resting whilst the other is able to go out into society. Sue must also inject herself with a stabiliser serum which can only be extracted from Elisabeth’s body as the matrix. During her week, Sue gets Elisabeth’s old job and is catapulted into superstardom whilst the latter finds herself indulging in alcohol and excessive amounts of food. Thus, a Jekyll and Hyde duality between the two characters is born, and the warning given to Elisabeth to “remember you are one” with the other is ultimately disregarded as desire is shown to feast upon and eat itself in the wake of dwindling resources between them.
The sound design and camera work in The Substance both work in tandem to unnerve and evoke horror in those watching it. Extreme close-ups on character’s mouths (looking at you Dennis Quaid and your bowl of shrimp) and the constant use of squelches and smacks against both food and bodies all construct visuals and sounds of constant gluttony. The Substance is not a subtle film by any means and its satirical deconstruction of youth and beauty is masterfully carried by the two actresses at the forefront in combination with its technical work. Demi Moore’s performance as Elisabeth Sparkle is a delight - after all, an actress who was at one time the highest-paid woman in Hollywood before a series of downturns towards the end of the 90s all but took her away from the big screen means this comeback feels particularly apt and disruptive to the notion of ageing gracefully. Moore’s performance is at its most raw and powerful when her character cannot leave her luxury apartment to go on a date. With Sue in her peripheral vision she stares intently at herself in the mirror and applies concealer and blush until she savagely rubs it all into her face, such is her dissatisfaction with her appearance. Moore portrays Elisabeth’s disgust with her real self, allowing the audience to see how she has been trained to look at bodies and compare it with her own in every mirror surface. Opposite to her, Margaret Qualley’s performance is magnetic as Sue as she aptly portrays how her character knows how to present her flesh as a saleable commodity. She is able to show Sue’s hunger to remain on the path to stardom at the expense of Elisabeth’s (and her) own body, as she becomes almost like Barbie’s evil twin in a bid to keep living more than seven days at a time. Though despite this, Qualley still manages to evoke sympathy for her character, particularly as her perfect vision of beauty literally starts to rot away and mutate.
As Elizabeth and Sue battle for dominance, the narrative gets nastier and darkly comedic until it finally erupts as a monster feature. Its final 20 minutes boast horrific transformations and gallons of blood which show the influence of John Carpenter and David Cronenberg in Fargeat’s filmmaking. Those are not the only influences the film is clearly inspired by, classics such as The Shining, Carrie, The Toxic Avenger, and more can all be felt throughout the narrative. Despite its clear influences, The Substance stands tall in its own narrative and originality. It prods boundaries in a sequence of oddities that, although fantastical, ultimately show the very real and common self-mutilation that is endured to achieve the permanent feeling and look of youth.
Love this!!