Since the Oscars concluded earlier this month and it had some nominations, I figured I’d write out my thoughts on ‘The Substance’ – directed by Coralie Fargeat and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid.

IMDB synopsis: A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

SPOILERS AHEAD

At its core, ‘The Substance’ comes across as a darkly humorous commentary on ageism in Hollywood. Specifically, the ageism that plagues women once they hit a certain age bracket and become discardable for producers and executives. Though, the film shows that it’s not exclusively a concern for women as a man is shown to take the “substance”. But the narrative chooses to focus on a woman, possibly due to a statistical reason.

The casting is actually an interesting dichotomy between starlets of the past and present: Demi Moore was an icon of the 80’s to 00’s and stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, the once famous and now fading celebrity. Margaret Qualley is a contemporary example of a beautiful and rising actress, starring as Elisabeth’s alternate self ‘Sue’.

The vanity of physical appearance for Elisabeth/Sue is notably obsessive. Elisabeth is a famous celebrity who has been leading a TV exercise programme up till her 50th birthday, when she is basically fired. She, honestly, looks very good for her age. On the other hand, the sleazeball producer Harvey (played by Dennis Quaid and an interesting name choice) is clearly allowed to be just that. He is overheard by Elisabeth criticising her age and the need for someone new and fresh. As he sits eating in a scene, the gross mess of food he viciously consumes can be interpreted as a manifestation of the power he has. In fact, he is probably the only male character to have some prominence.

Presenting the visible signs of aging is deliberately represented as horror. The male nurse tending to her in the hospital promotes ‘the substance’ as the answer to her problems. The methodology of the ‘substance’ is definitely fitting for a body horror. The fluids, syringes and tubes are initially reflective of cosmetic procedures. But the further it is used by Elisabeth/Sue recklessly, the more it resembles a type of medical support to keep one and the other self alive. The ‘new self’ emerging through the spine of the individual is gory and perhaps imitates a rebirth, though this is on a fine line of subtle/obvious.

There is a lot of nudity in the film and its purpose? I considered it Elisabeth’s perception on revelling in her new youthful body and how ‘perfect’ it appears and the opposite, Elisabeth disappointed in her original body. Her new body is admired in the bathroom mirror’s reflection, a slow and intimate examination of what can be assumed is supposed to be the ‘ideal’ female body. Even Sue’s pink workout outfit paired with the 80’s style exercise videos being produced deliberately accentuates her figure, especially with the close-ups on her legs and buttocks.

The bodies of Elisabeth and Sue are supposed to be the same person. Yet, the film shows how much of a stark difference there is between the two identities that they may as well have been separate entities. While Sue is active, she lives out a fantasy that is liberating and exciting to her thanks to her pretty privilege.

A sexual encounter is almost ruined when Sue realises she needs to switch back to Elisabeth’s body. Even as a nosebleed signals the urgency to switch back, Sue bends the rules by taking more fluid. But the fantasy doesn’t want to be diminished and Sue takes more fluid from the latter body to continue. At this point of conflict between them, Elisabeth has been neglected and her body is visibly deteriorating through rapid ageing. The first of these is her right index finger becoming wrinkled.

Elisabeth has a chance to go on a date with a high school acquaintance, who openly said she’s beautiful. But as she is prepped to leave, Sue’s image plastered on the billboard across her apartment and the mirror’s reflection halt her to frustratingly accept her perception of being old and losing her beauty. This happens several times until she is finally defeated and the date doesn’t happen. When Elisabeth is active, she exemplifies her envy over Sue’s adoration and fame. The latter body even bad mouths Elisabeth on TV as she recklessly cooks food, eats and messes up the apartment space as her way of expressing control.

Both bodies battle over each other and are frustrated over each other’s actions. Sue is the preferred body bringing in the gratification while Elisabeth is old and so should just wither away.

Elisabeth contacts the substance’s company over Sue’s lack of care over her body. Sue contacts him over Elisabeth’s rage-induced mess. The soothing male voice on the phone keeps reminding Elisabeth/Sue that they are one person.

Sue’s ultimate stockpiling of fluid leads to a prolonged period of Elisabeth being neglected. By the film’s final act, Elisabeth’s body is a shrivelled elderly woman who struggles to even walk upright. Reaching a breaking point, Elisabeth attempts to terminate Sue’s body but as she injects the termination serum, she glances at the billboard outside of Sue’s upcoming New Year’s Eve event. The desire to revel in the youth brought about once more through Sue’s body makes her desperately try to revive Sue.

However, Sue is surprisingly resuscitated and both bodies are simultaneously conscious. Realising Elisabeth was terminating her, Sue begins a bloody, brutal fight between the two bodies. The beautiful Sue emerges victorious as the now deteriorated Elisabeth’s body finally dies, moving ahead with the New Year’s event.

The film reiterates the ‘you are one’ mantra as a reminder to the audience as well. However, it does feel difficult to understand the same-individual-but-different-bodies conundrum, especially when Elisabeth/Sue seems confused herself.

Sue is gorgeously dolled up in a beautiful gown for the event, resembling royalty now that she has seemingly “won”. However, another bloody situation occurs but this time, her teeth come loose and her fingernails are falling off. Now Sue is desperate to return to the apartment to fix this. This can be reflective of cosmetic procedures not being parallel to the body’s natural aging and so more of the former is sought after. Using the dead body of Elisabeth, Sue sets up the substance and desperately uses the activator, even though it cannot be used more than once. Thus creates a new body birthing out of Sue: Monstro Elisasue.

Monstro Elisasue is a mangled, deformed body with Elisabeth’s original face on the back, mouth wide open as if in a permanent shock. The monstrous body dresses up for the event, tapes a photo of Elisabeth’s face (with extra drawings) on her own and goes to the event. This sequence is quite sad because of the extreme desperation Elisabeth has to stay ‘beautiful’ at all costs.

As a morbid, final attempt at trying to stay the beautiful, youthful celebrity, Monstro ElisaSue is met with immense backlash by the bewildered and disgusted audience creating a literal bloodbath. The scene is over-the-top with individual members standing up and yelling awful names, screaming. This was reminiscent of how nasty our words can be when celebrities “ruin” their faces with plastic surgery. I see plenty of these comments on social media often in pop culture circles, e.g. ‘they used to be so handsome/beautiful! what happened? what did they do?’.

The final scene shows Monstro Elisasue at her end. The body disintegrates and only Elisabeth’s face is able to slide towards her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, indulging in a brief fantasy of the fame and adoration she had once upon a time. As even the face disintegrates into a puddle of blood, a floor scrubber (the next day) brushes the star clean and so takes the last bit left of Elisabeth’s existence. The tragic irony is that her name is permanently embedded on the streets of Hollywood yet there is hardly any adoration from the people.

I’ve come to interpret this as a perspective that people should supposedly remember a celebrity in their prime, as seems to be the case in real life.

‘The Substance’ is a weird satire on an issue that is well-known and discussed. The comedic approach to the issue was somewhat refreshing and the horror is applied where appropriate, though not too effective. The foundation of real celebrities who have undergone cosmetic procedures to maintain a certain appearance is clearly the inspiration. Maybe the audience is to come to the realisation that aging shouldn’t be discouraged and look out for those falling into cosmetic solutions to prevent any unfortunate outcomes to the body.

Beyond the message and some humour, I’m not sure it had such a profound effect on me personally. Yes, women in Hollywood are subject to unnecessary scrutiny over appearances. I, as a woman, have had my fair share of self-esteem issues tied to physical features that persist. But the substance didn’t scare me that much about the inevitable future where I’ll age. Thankfully, the sci-fi elements make the substance an unlikely development in reality. As a horror, it could’ve been effective without the substance itself.

Letterboxd rating: ⭐⭐⭐