The Substance

Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself?

THE SUBSTANCE (18)

D: Coralie Fargeat

Working Title / Blacksmith (Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner & Coralie Fargeat)

France/UK/US 🇫🇷🇬🇧🇺🇸 2024

141 mins

Horror/Science Fiction/Comedy

W: Coralie Fargeat

DP: Benjamin Kračun

Ed: Coralie Fargeat, Jerome Eltabet & Valentin Feron

Mus: Raffertie (Benjamin Stefanski)

Demi Moore (Elisabeth Sparkle), Margaret Qualley (Sue), Dennis Quaid (Harvey), Edward Hamilton-Clark (Fred), Gore Abrams (Oliver)

*SPOILERS*

The Substance is a film that is best going into knowing as little as possible, so if you’d like to think of it as a horror movie equivalent of Death Becomes Her, go with that and come back here after watching the movie.

Coralie Fargeat’s film is an ingeniously unique blend of grotesque body horror and satirical black comedy, tackling several themes such as addiction, identity and the monstrously fickle nature of showbiz, celebrity and fame.

Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a once-famous actress whose star has faded & her only claim to relevancy comes in the form of a dated aerobics show which she is fired from on her 50th birthday.

Following a car accident, she learns about a mysterious substance that promises her a better version of herself, which she hesitantly takes and literally splits into a separate, younger conscious of herself who she names Sue, claiming back her old job on the aerobics show and becoming a huge success in the process. However, the substance has a proviso that the two versions of Elisabeth/Sue must switch back every week without exception, and whilst the two personalities take the utmost care for their alter ego, things start taking a turn for the worst when the younger Sue starts neglecting her original self for a party girl lifestyle, whilst the older Elisabeth becomes a reclusive slob, ageing at an accelerated rate due to Sue’s flouting of the rules.

The brilliance of the first two acts is slightly let down by a very messy third act which inexplicably gives Sue superhuman powers, before totally committing to a finale of blood, gore and monstrousness.

I’ve been highly critical of some of Demi Moore’s acting performances in the past, but she’s absolutely perfect for this role, though Margaret Qualley also deserves a lot of credit as the alternative, younger version of herself, and though Moore deservedly won accolades for her work, it’s quite shameful that Qualley wasn’t equally recognised.

Coralie Fargeat draws on threads of inspiration from other filmmakers, most obviously David Cronenberg & Stanley Kubrick, but the fabric she had woven is truly original, making The Substance easily one of the most unique and interesting films of 2024, bringing a sub-genre of back to the forefront of mainstream cinema for the first time in nearly four decades, and for that reason alone - I loved it!

8/10