‘The Substance’ is a Body Horror Nightmare Mixed With a Cautionary Tale – Review

The Substance, starring Demi Moore, has launched into theaters and we boldly went in to see if it is indeed everything it was hyped to be.

*note: minor spoilers follow for The Substance

Ever since the first trailer for The Substance dropped on the Internet, I felt an overriding need to see this story. That the film starred Demi Moore was more than enough to attract my attention, but it was especially what the trailers suggested and implied about the story that really made me curious.

And then there were the rumors I’d heard of how this film had been received at the Cannes Film Festival and elsewhere. Any film that can make an audience member faint has to be worth experiencing. After seeing the film in theaters I can confirm The Substance is very much worth seeing, nor will you forget it any time soon.

The Substance is set in the modern day and follows Elisabeth Sparkle, a celebrity aerobics instructor who is cruelly fired from her show on her fiftieth birthday as she is now considered “past her prime” by her sleazy boss (Dennis Quaid). Depressed, Elisabeth is seemingly offered a lifeline in the form of “The Substance”, a formula that uses the user’s own DNA to create a younger, more “perfect” version of oneself. Though everything seems to work fine at first, with Elisabeth now split between herself and her younger alter ego ‘Sue’, it quickly becomes apparent that creating a younger self isn’t exactly the help Elisabeth thought it would be.

One thing that must be discussed immediately is the amount of body horror in this film. While I gathered from the trailers that there would be a certain level of grotesqueness, that did not come close to preparing me for what I saw. Director Coralie Fargeat pulls no punches with the body horror, the first scene featuring it in particular was so intense, I actually felt mildly sick. I don’t say that as a negative, as I appreciate body horror films that can push boundaries (Titane is a prime example of this). However, fair warning should also be given that these scenes are incredibly intense and often come with little to no warning in the course of the story.

That being said, all praise needs to be given to Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in their respective roles as Elisabeth and Sue. Demi Moore gives the performance of a lifetime as the aging Elisabeth, who remembers her glory days as a star and doesn’t want to let them go. You don’t have to be a celebrity to feel the pain Elisabeth exudes as she compares her body to what the industry wants from her, especially after Sue enters the picture. Anyone who has ever been put down for their appearance will be familiar with the pain Elisabeth feels throughout the story.

Then there’s Margaret Qualley as Sue. Once the younger version of Elisabeth gets her bearings, Sue sweeps into the story like a force of nature. You literally can’t stop looking at her. Sue epitomizes everything the entertainment industry demands to see: youth, perkiness, a slim body. It seems like a match made in heaven, except as the story goes on, it becomes increasingly plain how unhealthy and toxic this environment is. Even when someone is physically “perfect”, it’s still not enough.

As I watched The Substance, it struck me on more than one occasion that this story was in some ways an updated take on The Portrait of Dorian Gray. In that story, as in The Substance, a person’s singleminded quest to live the life they think they want seems to be going perfectly, except the damage is quietly building and building until the original body breaks down in total ruin. Once I made that connection, I knew there was only one way this story was going to end. But again, I was not prepared for how intense it would be.

This is where The Substance has one flaw. While the movie overall is phenomenal and deserves to be discussed come awards season, it doesn’t quite stick the landing in the final twenty minutes of the film. It’s hard to say if this is because the director went too far with the gore and body horror, or if it’s because they kept the story going too long after the climactic moment. Either way, the ending is not as satisfying as it could’ve been.

To conclude, The Substance is one of the best films to come out this year, and is certainly the best horror film I’ve seen in 2024. Demi Moore needs to be seriously considered for an Oscar. Even if you’re not a fan of body horror, The Substance is worth seeing at least once.