There’s nothing more terrifying than aging, at least that’s what women have been conditioned to believe, from normalizing lying about our age to being advertised a flurry of anti-aging products and procedures. In Coralie Fargeat’s film The Substance, starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, the filmmaker is relentless in her pushback to the way women’s bodies are scrutinized and objectified.
At the core of the movie is one question, if you had the opportunity to create a more desirable version of yourself, someone considered more valuable in society and, essentially, “perfect,” would you do it? Really leaning into body-horror elements, Fargeat explores what it means to say “yes” to that question.
The Substance release date: In theatres Sept. 20
Director: Coralie Fargeat
Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
Runtime: 141 minutes
The Substance is set around the character Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Moore. She’s an award-winning actor but in more recent years Elisabeth has transitioned her career to fitness TV. Despite the success of her show, studio head Harvey (Dennis Quaid) is ready to replace Elisabeth with a younger woman, someone he sees as more beautiful and desirable.
After losing her job and ending up in an unfortunate car accident, Elisabeth is presented with a unique opportunity. Through a black market procedure, which involves the injection of a drug called “The Substance,” Elisabeth can create a younger version of herself to live out in the world.
But there are rules that come with this procedure. Both versions of Elisabeth do not exist at the same time. Each version of Elisabeth can only exist for seven days in a row before they need to switch.
While initially reluctant, seeing an advertisement from the network looking for her younger replacement compels Elisabeth to do the procedure, creating Sue (Qualley).
When Sue auditions for Harvey, he loves her instantly and quickly gets the wheels turning on Sue’s new fitness TV show. As Sue becomes increasingly more successful, she starts getting loose with the rules of the procedure, leading to unexpected consequences for Elisabeth.
The societal and cultural messages of The Substance aren’t particularly new, but when I left the screening and a man next to me walked out saying, “I didn’t get it. Demi looked fine at the beginning of the movie. Why would she do all that?” That’s evidence that the pressure women feel being trapped by largely unrealistic and unattainable beauty standards still isn’t taken seriously. It’s that frustration that makes Fargeat’s film exactly the kind of stories we need to put on screen.
Some of these points on body dissatisfaction, and the addictiveness of trying to have the “perfect” body, can be quite repetitive over the course of the film, but maybe that’s the point. I just thought about how continuous the messages are in everything from advertisements to entertainment that tell women that how they look isn’t good enough. So maybe we need a little repetition here to compete, in some capacity.
Where Fargeat really seems to win, or lose, the audience is in how far she’s willing to push the horror and the oddity of the story. This is still very much a genre film.
Fargeat is taking a stance on the terrifying inner voice women have developed, telling us we’re not attractive or valuable when we look in the mirror. The filmmaker decides to have a visual representation of creature inside, which will stun viewers. Some will laugh, some will want to avert their eyes, others may just be confused, but there’s a level of risk Fargeat takes to lean into extremes that’s particularly attractive in this film.
As far as the actors, this is absolutely Moore’s most impressive work. Elisabeth as a character doesn’t just have lofty emotional stakes, but there’s an impressive physical transformation Moore takes on with such force and commitment.
For Qualley, she matches Moore’s energy. Particularly near the end of the movie, the actor really leans into the terror that Fargeat creates in the story, and handles the more off-kilter moments with the necessary grounding force.
The Substance is an absolute feast visually and takes risks with a number of visual shocks, mixed with a story that touches on several particularly intense societal criticisms.
Risks in filmmaking are exciting. You certainly know generally where the story of The Substance is going to go, that part isn’t a secret, and it’s not trying to be, but it’s the way Fargeat is able to create a detailed film that doesn’t compromise on its genre elements was refreshing to see, and unique to this film.
