Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a once-loved actress who is fired from her aerobics show because her producer thinks she’s too old. Desperate to maintain her beauty, a nurse slips her a flash-drive labelled The Substance. This drug will let her be a younger, more beautiful version of herself, providing they swap every seven days. Sounds simple enough right? Wrong. Complications arise when the younger Elisabeth, who calls herself Sue and is played excellently by Margaret Qualley, begins to like the new level of fame a bit too much...
I really loved every minute of The Substance. It's a pretty lengthy 2 hours 20 minutes but it feels much quicker than that, and what could be a played-out take on unrealistic beauty standards is supercharged with fantastic body horror, influenced by John Carpenter and David Cronenberg. I'd heard so much about how disgusting The Substance was and I was initially a bit confused as to why, then the second half happened and I sat there with my mouth hanging open until the credits rolled.
This is only Coralie Fargeat's second film but she directs this with so much confidence. It looks gorgeous, and all the scenes of freakish body horror are brilliantly done. I love it when a horror film goes so mad that I'm laughing along with it, and the third act to this is one of the most deranged things I've ever seen in the cinema. There was not one person in the audience that had any clue what was going on, but we all loved it.
At the start of The Substance, you’re intrigued. By the end of it, you’re shocked into submission after experiencing the craziest thing you’ll see in a cinema this year
Story-wise, The Substance isn’t doing anything particularly original. There’s been many films, even some horrors, that have addressed the cutthroat worlds of fashion and beauty, and how people aspire to be these glamorous beautiful models for as long as possible. The Neon Demon, starring Elle Fanning, is a film that arguably gets grosser than The Substance does.
However, this is certainly a more fun experience than The Neon Demon, thanks to some well-done satire. Dennis Quaid is hilarious as the horrible sexist producer who only judges the talent he finds on their looks, and Moore herself gets to do lots of great acting here. There’s some emotional moments as she begins looking at herself in disdain, and some good moments of dark comedy as she becomes more paranoid about her own beauty standards and goes steadily more insane.
The Substance is definitely not a groundbreaking work of film. It explores ideas that have been explored many times before, and the way it incorporates body horror is inspired by many directors of the past. Nevertheless, none of that matters when it’s done with this much style and this much guts. At the start of The Substance, you’re intrigued. By the end of it, you’re shocked into submission after experiencing the craziest thing you’ll see in a cinema this year. More films that leave my jaw on the floor please!