By Lisa Perini ‘26 (Reporter)
I’ve slowly but surely been crossing off the movies from my watchlist. And at the very top of this list, amid all the award show buzz it’s receiving, is Coralie Fargeat’s 2024 film, The Substance. The Substance follows Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a renowned actress and host of an aerobics show who suddenly finds herself getting fired from the very show she built on her 50th birthday because she was ‘too old.’ “At 50 it stops,” says Harvey, her slimy executive producer. Everything she has worked for suddenly gets stripped away from her because of her age. In this moment of vulnerability, she encounters the substance, a black market drug that uses your DNA to build a ‘new-and-improved’ you allowing you to live a double life. You alternate between lives, spending one week as yourself, and one week as what can only be described as the ‘yassified’ version of you. From Sparkle’s consumption of the substance comes Sue (Margaret Qualley). Her ‘other half’ represents everything she lost: youth, attention, and a platform, which she uses to become her replacement on the show that fired her. Except in this case, it all goes wrong.
As someone who doesn’t have much of a stomach for body horror, I really enjoyed watching The Substance. It is extremely well made in all aspects. While on the subject of body horror, I have to talk about the incredible prosthetics. Because Elizabeth and Sue are one, as Sue starts to disrespect the week-on/week-off balance so she can stay young for longer, it begins to take a toll on Elizabeth, rapidly aging her. Demi Moore goes from being her fabulous self, with her shiny hair and wide green eyes, to something akin to “The Mother” from Barbarian (2022). And as that is happening, Sue is only becoming more captivating. This side-effect is even touched on the first time the substance begins to be misused. While out, Sue uses a little bit of the “stabilizer” (a.k.a. spinal cord fluid, which we see being extracted from an unconscious Demi Moore), and when she returns, someone tells her something along the lines of “I think you just got more beautiful.” I got to see their respective evolutions and regressions right before my eyes through the use of makeup — to an extreme level. Watching this was truly a skin-crawling experience. And from that point on, things just get gorier and gorier. However, if I go into more detail about the gore I’ll end up giving it away. All I can say is to say it is disgusting is an understatement — but in an almost gnarly way.
With this progression, Coralie Fargeat also did a wonderful job reflecting the way women are viewed and treated because of their looks, especially the ageism women face in the entertainment industry. The way these things were obnoxiously in our faces only added to the film. If there is one takeaway from The Substance, it’s the ridiculous manner in which women’s values are assigned to them based on their appearances in a professional setting. Women aging is seen as a negative thing. If you look at any skincare brand or cosmetic company’s collection, you'll see an abundance of anti-aging products being marketed. Or even from the stars of today, you’ll see this. A lawsuit based on ageism towards women was even filed against The Hallmark channel. In one of my favorite movies, Notting Hill(1999), Julia Roberts, who plays a famous movie star, says, “One day not long from now, my looks will go. They will discover I can't act, and I will become some sad middle-aged woman who looks a bit like someone who was famous for a while.” Another example is a 22-years-old Taylor Swift (now 35), who wrote a song expressing the fear that as she gets older people will care less about her and who has also explained that part of the reason she’s had so many different styles or ‘eras’ is because she feels doing so is one of the only ways to keep people interested in her work. Ageism is so prevalent that people only seem to take note of it when it’s hitting them in the face, like when someone takes a black market drug to keep them young because that’s the only way society will accept them. It is clear from the moment Elizabeth gets fired until the moment the credits start rolling how problematic ageism is and the lengths people will go to to fight it.
This anti-ageism message paired with this level of body horror give both Qualley and Moore the portrayals of a lifetime. Despite not really having any scenes together, they embody their (allegedly) shared consciousness in such contrasting ways that showcase both sides of using something like the substance. On one hand, it’s wonderful to be the best version of yourself, but this level of perfection literally and figuratively eats away at your insides. It’s crazy to me that Demi Moore, someone who has been acting since the early 80s, had only won a major acting award this year when she received the Golden Globe for her role in this movie. This also earned her her first Academy Award nomination.
Despite how gory and graphic this movie is, the cinematography is beautiful. It’s strange to say that about a body horror psychological thriller, but it could not be closer to the truth. Elizabeth’s side of the story, as she is waiting out her week, is visually very dull and lifeless. All the colors are muted and there is an overall somber energy. However, every ‘Sue’ scene is vibrant and filled with color– especially the studio, which showcases how aerobics and entertainment are Sparkle’s life. As the movie goes on and as things start to get more twisted, the colors stop feeling ‘bright and fun’ and begin to have an almost nauseating effect, further showcasing how off-putting things are. The lights in which Moore and Qualley are portrayed also continue to highlight the contrast of the two. Margaret Qualley seems to always look ethereal while maintaining this bombshell quality. Her clothing emphasizes how she’s this ‘young new thing,’ and her numerous male-gaze-esque close-ups further display how the executives at the studio, along with most of the other people, see her, essentially as a piece of meat.
Overall, watching The Substance was such a unique experience. I’ve never seen anything be so obnoxious and in-your-face about its message in an enjoyable way. It is twisted, which made me even more invested, and all the carnage, paired with Moore’s descent into insanity, further immerse viewers. It certainly is not for everyone, but it is absolutely worth a try.
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