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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
Caroline Fargeat’s The Substance is one of the most strange films of the year. Serving as a satire on the film industry at large and the price of celebrity, the film wastes no time introducing Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) to a new, younger, altogether better version of herself.
The Substance is grotesque at its most bizarre moments, for better or worse. However, the most obvious issue with the film is its runtime. The pacing itself is particularly fine, but Fargeat’s screenplay seeks to tear down the standard of beauty in the most abysmal way. The back and forth of Elisabeth and her “other self”, Sue (Margaret Qualley), are the most fun parts of The Substance. While truly sharing scenes only in the film’s final act, they are constantly yelling at one another’s static bodies, and epically hate one another. Moore and Qualley give two of the year’s better horror performances, and Fargeat employs the camera like the audience is simply watching everything in the background.
Celebrity’s Toll
After the film’s opening, Elisabeth begins to “celebrate” her fiftieth birthday in perhaps the most depressing manner. Upon leaving the final taping of her hit aerobics show, she’s essentially fired without cause. This is all due to her age and “fading” looks. While at the hospital following a car wreck, a young nurse examines her and tells her she’s a perfect candidate, slipping her a flash drive advertising the black market drug, “The Substance.”
With one single injection, one can become “younger, more beautiful, more perfect.” The only exception is that one spends seven days on and seven days off; “You are one.” This becomes more and more important as the film goes on. Desperate, Elisabeth orders the strange drug and begins her transformation into something “more.”
After the first week, Elisabeth feels slightly more confident and, having run into a supposed old classmate of hers, attempts to go out with him. However, her nerves get the better of her and she stands him up because of her feelings. It does no good, and she simply “wastes away” until the switch can be made back into Sue. This is important, though, because Sue and Elisabeth are truly one; in some form, one knows what the other is doing.
Capturing the Essence of the Leads
The Substance does a great job of triggering a response from the audience. The film’s body horror elements are superb in their own right. Qualley and Moore are framed in incredibly minute ways, but cinematographer Benjamin Kračun’s camera continually moves around them, rather than them around the camera. The camera wants to analyze their bodies and make the audience question what truly is “beautiful.” Sue quickly gobbles up the opportunity to replace Elisabeth on her show. Despite that they share a consciousness, inevitably Sue and Elisabeth begin to view each other as two separate human beings. Sue takes a bit more “life” from Elisabeth each week, thus the toll they now face.
While Sue takes more and more, Elisabeth quickly ages and becomes different from the woman she once was. They grow to resent each other and eventually Sue begins to refuse to switch back. Three months pass, and Sue faces no choice but to switch once more; this is when Elisabeth finds herself a hunchback-like creature. Elisabeth seemingly learns somewhat of a lesson and attempts to end the process entirely. However, she continues to be careless and Sue and Elisabeth both become self-aware.
Full Monster Horror
During the film’s final moments, Sue uses the single-use activator, which creates something else entirely, “Monstro Elisasue.” After mass chaos during the television network’s New Year’s Eve Show, the monster is eventually eliminated and Elisabeth’s head grows back and literally crawls away. Her head ends up on her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the same place where the film began. She hallucinates being admired once more then melts off. It’s chaotic at best, and the floor scrubber cleaning away her puddle is bittersweet. The monster itself is designed quite epically and the creature’s design and makeup are on full display in The Substance.
Final Thoughts on Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance
While Fargeat’s screenwriting is hypnotic and quite sincere, the film’s pacing is fine, but the runtime itself is a bit long. However, her direction truly stands alone, and she constantly references other delirious horror films from Stanley Kubrick and David Cronenberg in her imagery, which is a superb feat.
Dennis Quaid’s Harvey is a freak all his own and embodies the most annoying and immature of male traits, framed in the weirdest ways. Still, Moore and Qualley are truly the stars of the film. Their constant back and forth is quite welcoming for the type of film The Substance is. The body horror stands on its own, and all of these elements craft another great film within the genre, and quite a great satire too.
4/5 stars.
Caroline Fargeat’s The Substance is playing in theatres and streaming on Mubi!
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Lead Critic for the site, as well as serving as an editor when needed.
This article was edited by John Tangalin.