When I saw the trailer for The Substance, I knew it was a movie I was going to have to see. I’m a fan of body horror and, if you have seen Mrs Boba Phil naked, you would understand why I have to be a fan.
The Substance stars Demi Moore, Dennis Quaid and Margaret Qualley for most of the movie. Coralie FargeatIt is the writer and director.
I will try to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, which is going to be hard going because I really want to talk to people about the ending.
The Story
A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.
The very first scene is an egg, a raw, uncooked egg on a table. It’s injected with the substance and the yoke splits into two.
We then see a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Elizabeth Sparkle. As we look down on the star, people are having their photos taken with it and talking about how great she is.
Time goes on and the star starts to get cracked and people say “Wasn’t she in that movie?”, as her name fades to obscurity.
We then meet Elizabeth (Moore) making an exercise video. She still looks great and looks like she’s still loved. This is not the case, her producer, Harvey (Quaid) pretty much says that now she’s 50, she’s finished.
After ending up in a car crash, a nurse at the hospital gives her a USB stick with a phone number on it. She watches the USB and it explains that the substance can make you a better you. Obviously, she calls the number.
That’s all I’m going to say about the story, well, apart from a minor spoiler.
Just the Two of Us
The Substance makes you a better you because it makes a new you. Like Jekyll and Hyde, the only difference is the new you is “born”.
When Elizabeth first takes it, Sue is “born” as a new body, still her, but a younger better her.
The body swap must take place once every seven days. One of the bodies lays dormant, fed through a drip, while the other lives its life. Every seven days they must swap over. There are rules to follow and these rules are broken.
Sue (Qualley) enjoys her life too much and takes too much from Elizabeth. A stabilization fluid has to be taken from the matrix, the host, and given to the “new you”. You can only take so much though.
The Cast
Demi Moore is a stunning-looking lady, she’s now 62 and still has it. In The Substance, she really bares her soul and shows herself off, warts and all. As we all get older, things start to sag, things get wrinkly and those buns of steal look more like buns of sourdough.
Moore hides nothing in this movie, yes, she gets fully naked and shows us her slightly flabby belly and birthmarks. I felt a real sense of pride for her doing this, there’s not many ladies that would do this for a movie. By the end of it, I totally understand why she did.
Her performance is one of the best of her career, she plays Elizabeth really well and is totally convincing, even towards the end as things get out of hand. The Substance is worth watching just for her.
Her alter-ego, Sue, played by Qualley, is very good as well. At first, she is there for eye candy and she looks amazing!
In fact, I was very surprised at how they sexualised her. It’s pretty gratuitous, they are quite happy to show two of her best bits, that go up and down when she runs, yes, her knees. I say at first, but her performance just gets better and better as the movie goes on.
T&T
I say I was surprised at the over-sexualisation, but this is counterbalanced by making every male in the movie a pervert. Quaid is her production manager, he’s dirty, loud-mouthed and is only interested in seeing T&T, tits & teeth.
All of the shareholders are dirty old perverts and so is Sue’s neighbour. He’s a guy that just goes gaga over her when he first meets her. This is a minor niggle though, as Sue seems quite happy to be exploited.
Talk about mixed messages, men are perverts, but women are OK about being looked at by perverts.
I like your style
The style of The Substance is great. I’m probably going to put a few people off here, but the style is very Kubrick or Cosmatos. There are scenes that are straight out of The Shining.
This has to have been done on purpose, because the similarities are too much, right down to the carpet design.
Personally, I love Kubrick and Cosmatos, they have great visions, awesome sound design and music tracks that are unusual, but always fit. Fargeat’s direction is the same, it’s got a great style, look, feel, and soundtrack that really fits.
It’s one of those movies that is unlike anything you’ve seen for a while. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this in Mandy by Cosmatos. It’s bizarre in places but gripping.
Overall
You guess where The Substance is going towards the end, but you can’t help but look. In fact, I would say it was far worse than I imagined and I my imagination was running wild. The ending is something you won’t forget in a hurry.
This isn’t going to be everyone’s cuppa, but I would say give it a watch. It’s not like anything you’ve seen for a while and it’s very, very well made.
Moore gives the best performance of her career and it’s just a blast! It might even end up in one of my favourite movies of 2024.
There is so much more to talk about, there are several layers to unpeal, but I cannot do that without spoiling the movie. If you get the chance, watch it.
The Substance is now on streaming.
