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The Substance (2024) Review

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Writer’s note: The second paragraph of this article (just below the first image) contains a basic outline of the film’s premise. There are no spoilers that weren’t already inferred in the film’s own trailer. However, if you want to completely avoid potential spoilers, skip over the second paragraph.

Despite having a reputation for cheap thrills, the horror genre is actually one of the most versatile in all of cinema. While its main function is to give a good scare, many horror films have made us laugh, cry and think. The horror itself can even come in many forms, ranging from silent tension, to psychological fear. It’s very rarely just gratuitous violence, with many of the best horror films giving weight to rich social and political metaphors. So it’s especially interesting when the most gruesome kind of horror attempts to be more than what it appears. Specifically, Director Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024) has brought body-horror back to screens in a visceral way. 

Demi Moore as Elizabeth Sparkle.

Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a once popular movie star is now making her way as the host of an old-fashioned aerobics TV show. On her 50th birthday, her producer Harvey (Dennis Quaid) unceremoniously fires her, citing that she is now too old to continue. While lamenting that she is no longer a young, beautiful superstar, Elizabeth is distracted on the road and becomes involved in a crash. A young nurse suggests she take ’The Substance’, a mysterious black market product. The Substance splits the user in two, creating a cloned body of oneself, only “younger, more beautiful and more perfect” as the ad says. The catch: whatever one body does affects the other, and to maintain the safety of the process, each body is only allowed out one at a time, and only one week at a time. Elizabeth uses The Substance to create a younger version of herself, named Sue (Margaret Qualley). Sue easily acquires Elizabeth’s job as the host of the show, but Sue’s defiance of The Substance’s rules soon causes major problems for both. 

These days, the tricky part of making a horror film is coming up with an interesting or original concept. At this point, practically everything has been done, and audiences have definitely had their fill of ghosts, ghouls, goblins, possessions and exorcisms. So, the fact that The Substance is even attempting something a little bit different is refreshing. An attempt would be good enough, but The Substance goes beyond that, arriving at a truly compelling and fairly clever set up. From the moment Elizabeth learns of The Substance and the rules on how to use it safely, we are immediately on edge, as our imagination runs wild with what could happen if those rules are broken. This creates levels of tension that are almost unbearable, as we can’t help but squirm every time one of the rules are broken. 

Dennis Quaid as Harvey.

Director Coralie Fargeat doesn’t just stop there, as she takes the audience for a wonderfully irreverent ride as the tension builds. Everything that makes us squirm is staged with a campy tone, which can’t help but elicit uncontrollable laughter. Clearly Fargeat is having fun making the viewer uncomfortable, and that sense of fun is highly infectious. Even as things ramp up and start to become gross, you can’t help but see the funny side of these over-the-top antics. This also allows the film’s rich thematics to remain at the forefront, helping the entire story function as a satire of ageism, misogyny and unrealistic beauty standards. 

All that being said, once the violence does occur, it ends up being some of the most grotesque body horror we’ve seen since The Thing (1982) or The Fly (1986). Similar to those earlier classics, The Substance’s use of practical make-up effects excellently blends with the computer effects, making it nearly impossible to determine where one begins and the other ends. If the purpose of body-horror is to put you off your lunch, that mission is certainly accomplished here. However, if not for the comedy, tense build up, and social commentary, all these gruesome elements wouldn’t be nearly as effective. 

Some wild, gross stuff happening to someone’s eye.

Working in tandem with all these considerable strengths are the nearly flawless performances from its stars, Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. While they are technically playing the same character, Elizabeth and Sue are given different traits, likes, dislikes and desires. This is especially impressive, considering that they are still the same person with the same core motivation. Moore and Qualley perfectly complement each other, creating a compelling drama of two halves who need each other, but cannot escape their hate of each other. Moore in particular steals the show, delivering arguably the greatest performance of her entire career. 

Despite all of The Substance’s considerable merits, there are issues which prevent the film from being completely faultless. Namely, the film maintains a highly refined pace until the third act, where things are drawn out to an excessive length. Everything that occurs is exactly what needs to happen, and makes the most sense thematically, but the final 30 minutes feels like it could’ve arrived at the same story points and the same conclusion within 5 to 10 minutes. This creates a notable problem, as the viewer goes from enjoying the chaos, to wishing it would just end. This might have worked if it was intentional, but it seems as though the audience was meant to be revelling in the last act just as much as the rest of the film. It’s unfortunate that the final stretch causes the viewer to repeatedly check their watch, as that may taint the viewing experience of the entire film. 

Margaret Qualley as Sue.

Regardless, The Substance remains an ingeniously excellent experience, managing to be disgusting, engaging, enjoyable, thought provoking and hilarious in equal measure. It’s a rare achievement (especially for the body-horror genre) and will surely be a new high watermark for all involved. This is especially true for Demi Moore, who may just have a career resurgence after this. Hopefully she can have that resurgence without needing to create a younger clone of herself. 

8/10

Best way to watch it: On a day where you’re fasting.

The Substance Poster.
Robert Fantozzi

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