The Substanceis the newest body horror to hit theaters, and it is a brilliantly scathing review of Hollywood beauty standards. Directed by Coralie Fargeat,The Substancefits within her typical style of creating worlds that are recognizable, yet detached from reality. The film, which was the result of a joint venture between production companies in France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, originally premiered in May this year, before gaining theatrical release on September 20th.
StarringDemi Moore and Margaret Qualley,The Substancefollows a fading celebrity who uses a black-market drug in hopes of creating a younger, more beautiful version of herself. Giving into the pressures of aging, and being pushed out of the television industry,The Substanceacts as a commentary on the monstrous side of giving in to societal standards. The ending ofThe Substanceis bonkers, bloody, and beautiful, but what does it mean?
Although it has not, so far, been doing very well at the box office, critically,The Substanceis a success. It won the Best Screenplay award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival. Additionally, it is currently sitting at a score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and an average of 4.1 stars on Letterboxd.
Brief Explanation of The Substance’s Plot
The Substance
InThe Substance,audiences are introduced to the acclaimed actress Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore), who has been reduced to the host of a popular aerobics show.On her 50th birthday, she overhears her producer complaining about her age and body, subsequently firing her.On her drive home, Elisabeth notices her show’s billboard being taken down, causing her to crash. At the hospital, she mysteriously receives a flash drivepromoting “The Substance”, which creates a second, better version of herself. Ordering the produce, she follows the instructions, and this other version is born from a split in her back. She names herself Sue (Qualley). It is revealed thatevery seven days, the consciousness, which is shared between the two, must swap bodies,highlighting that they are the same person.
Sue quickly rises to stardom, becoming the lead on the show, which replaces Elisabeth. When they swap over, Elisabeth is riddled with poor self-esteem and loneliness, forced to witness Sue’s rise to great admiration.This contrast between the two only increases as Elisabeth indulges more, and Sue avoids switching bodies by extracting more of the Stabilizer, which keeps the two going.The longer Sue remains over the seven-day limit, the worse Elisabeth’s body looks.
Over the weeks, Elisabeth gets older and appears more ugly. Deciding to terminate the substance, Elisabeth begins the process, stopping halfway through. This causes their connection to sever, and Sue and Elisabeth are simultaneously conscious.Sue then decides to kill Elisabeth before leaving to host the much anticipated New Year’s Eve show.
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What Happens at the End of The Substance?
With Elisabeth dead, Sue can no longer stabilize herself. The stabilization process was extremely important in maintaining Sue’s new body. Thus,Sue’s body begins to deteriorate at a rapid pace,with teeth and other body parts falling off as she is backstage. Now frantic, Sue rushes home and uses the leftover Activator against all instructions in hopes of creating a third, even better body. However, against her expectations,a monstrous hybrid of the two is formed.Without seeing the film, she can best be described as a mix of the Doctor Who alien Abzorbaloff anda Resident Evil villain.
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Getting back into her magnificent dress, Sue plasters a photo of herself onto her new face and sets off to the studio. Arriving, she is a spectacle to the audience, who erupt into hysteric chaos. Women are screaming and men are hurling abuse at her horrific appearance. This all culminates in her head becoming decapitated, which instantly regenerates and fires blood all over the stage and audience.
Not a square inch of the studio is safe, as she escapes, collapsing on the road in pieces. All that is left is the original face of Elisabeth, becoming the center of a small blob,slowly making her way towards her now neglected star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.This is the only point in the film where she finds self-comfort, melting into the star.The filmends with the blood she leaves behindbeing cleaned by a floor scrubber like her journey or eventual solace never happened, ready for the next young, beautiful woman to become a victim of modern standards.
How the Film Explores Beauty Standards in Television and Movies
Written, produced, and directed by Fargeat, this female-led project offers a fresh feminist perspective on the treatment of older women and their bodies within the on-screen media. Elisabeth’s character appears loved and appreciated by fans and those who work with her and is praised for her beauty after bumping into an old school friend on the street. Through these moments, the film subtly forces audiences to recognize that she is beautiful simply because she is.
However,her self-confidence and psyche are destroyed by how she is being perceived on the screen.Her producer fires her for not meeting certain standings due to age, before telling a man of similar age that he is in the prime of his career. Not only is she fired for this reason, but the auditions for her replacement are solely focused on finding someone with body parts in the right place, contrasted with the monster at the end with breasts in different places and limbs coming out of all places. All of this contributes to her crash, which puts her on the path to monstrosity.
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The constant reminder that beauty standards run the film and television industry causes Elisabeth to go down this dark path, ultimately destroying her mentality and body whenshe was perfect as she was. Audiences are constantly forced to acknowledge this as they go between Elizabeth’s deterioration and Sue’s rise, especially as the new television show is less of the advertised dance show, and more close-ups of Sue’s body.The attention given to Sue herself creates a monster that craves this positive attention, causing her to murder Elisabeth and ultimately doom her own fate.The actions of Sue and Elisabeth were guided by how their industries perceived them.
Whereas a lot of body horror is utilized purely for shock and to incite fear, inThe Substanceit makes a powerful point. For most of the film, the body horror is delicate, done with a certain suspense, inciting a subtle message. However, by the end, the bloody masquerade completely alters the film’s tone. Blood bursts from the monstrous body, covering every audience member, in an almost camp ending.
Such a forceful change of perspective reinforces that the message ofThe Substanceis not to be easily pushed aside under the excuse of it being subliminal, but so in your face that it must be addressed. Some may have found it a little over the top, but it was a beautifully fitting ending, with the cherry on top being the irony that accepting the less-than-perfect parts of yourself is the key to a peaceful life, as Elisabeth Sparkle fades into non-existence.
