JP Nunez
Hype is a dangerous thing. It can ruin even the best of movies, so when The Substance started garnering rave reviews, I tried my best to remain cautiously optimistic. But I’m not going to lie, it wasn’t easy. This is being hailed as one of the best horror films of the year, and one critic I follow even scored it a perfect 10 out of 10. As the praise kept flooding in, I began to wonder if my expectations were growing unrealistically high, but now that I’ve seen the movie, I can assure you that it really is that good. The Substance isn’t just one of the best horror films of 2024. It’s quite possibly the most important, and it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen this year in any genre.
The Substance was written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, and it stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid. In the film, Elisabeth Sparkle is a middle-aged celebrity whose star is quickly fading, so she turns to a mysterious new drug, the titular substance, for help. It allows her to create a younger, more beautiful version of herself, and when Elisabeth 2.0 steps into the public eye, she calls herself Sue.
At first, this seems like the perfect solution, but the situation goes south very quickly. Sue and Elisabeth have to switch back and forth every seven days, or else the consequences will be dire. Unsurprisingly, Sue becomes addicted to all the attention she’s receiving, so she starts to ignore that cardinal rule. Her selfish behavior results in big problems for her and Elisabeth, and it leads to some of the most gruesome body horror you’ve ever seen.
A lot of the early reviews for The Substance praised Demi Moore’s turn as Elisabeth, but to be frank, I wasn’t terribly impressed with her work here…at least not at first. Sure, she does a good job conveying just how much the loss of her youthful vibrancy weighs on her, but I didn’t think her performance was anything special.
However, as the movie goes on, Moore gets better and better. Her character soon starts to descend into an almost Jack Torrance-like madness, and Moore totally nails each step of that transformation. She’s so good that I was able to feel some of the pressure women face to maintain their good looks and sex appeal at all times. Since I’m a guy in my 30s, that’s no small feat.
On top of that great lead, The Substance also features excellent side characters. For example, Margaret Qualley is awesome as America’s new obsession, and when Sue begins to run into problems of her own, Qualley doesn’t lose a step. But hands down, the best bit player in this film is Dennis Quaid. He plays Harvey, an aptly named executive who unapologetically epitomizes the dark underbelly of Western masculinity. He’s every guy who’s ever made a woman feel uncomfortable in his presence or insecure about her looks, and Quaid is absolutely magnetic in the role.
Along similar lines, Writer/Director Coralie Fargeat also shoots a couple of the male characters in ways that bring their inner ugliness right to the surface, and those moments are hugely effective. To take just one example, there’s a scene where Harvey is chowing down on some crawfish, and after watching it, I might never eat those delicious crustaceans again. Harvey looks absolutely repulsive biting into them and swirling their meat around in various sauces, and that outer grossness perfectly matches what the guy is like on the inside.
Next, we have to talk about the horror in this movie. Like I said before, this is some of the most gruesome body horror around, and much like Demi Moore’s lead performance, it just gets better and better as the film goes on. There are some truly disgusting and disturbing visuals here, and the third act is something you need to see to believe. Despite all the awesome body horror that came before it, I still wasn’t ready for this madness, and I can almost guarantee that you’ll be just as shocked as I was.
Last but not least, I want to say a few words about the message of The Substance. As you can probably guess, this movie is essentially an allegory for the pressure women face from our culture’s impossible beauty standards, and at 140 minutes, it has all the time it needs to thoroughly lambaste those oppressive ideals.
Most obviously, Elisabeth is a stand-in for every woman who’s ever struggled with her self-image, and her story embodies the various ways those pressures can become genuinely harmful. The character’s pursuit of beauty damages her physically, mentally, and emotionally, but like an addict trapped in a vicious cycle, she simply can’t leave the fame and glory behind.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Substance makes it clear that middle-aged women aren’t the only ones who face this impossible battle. Even Sue–a young, beautiful starlet who seems to have it all–runs into some insurmountable obstacles trying to maintain her sex appeal. I can’t get into specifics without spoiling the film’s surprises, but her pursuit of beauty takes an unbearably heavy toll on her as well, and that’s an equally important part of the story’s message.
All that being said, I have to acknowledge that The Substance isn’t quite perfect. There are a few scenes that sexualize Sue a bit too much, and in my opinion, it almost feels like the movie is inviting male viewers to engage in the kind of objectifying gaze it rails against so vehemently. I understand that it’s trying to highlight the differences between Sue and Elisabeth, but I think it just goes a little too far a couple of times.
However, in the grand scheme of things, the good in The Substance far outweighs that one flaw. I still had an amazing time with this film, and if you’re at all a fan of body horror, I think you will too. It’s a wonderfully acted, incredibly meaningful story brought to life with the best body horror you’ll see all year, so I highly recommend that you check it out as soon as you can.
The Substance is set to hit theaters on September 20.
