Coralie Fargeat’s instinctive, sarcastic sexually explicit film, The Substance, explores the horrific consequences of staying relevant in a society that is obsessed with perfection, as well as the fears of ageing, elegance, and identity.
With stunning, funny, repulsive, and incredibly depressing moments, it is as much a societal satire as a horror film. The film revolves around Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a former celebrity and current host of a fitness show, who gets dismissed from her show on its 15th birthday. Later, she is exposed to “The Substance,” a covert injection that produces a younger, more attractive replica of herself, Sue (Margaret Qualley). Every week, Elisabeth and Sue must take turns living as their ‘real’ selves. Elisabeth grows bitter and preoccupied, and eventually both of them are captivated by the project, while Sue feeds on the attention and youth that Elisabeth previously possessed.
The movie questions how Hollywood, the media, and society see women’s bodies in addition to beauty standards. Hyper-sexualized images, objectifying auditions, and the commercialization of youth are used to show the camera work, audience involvement, and the pursuit of perfection. Elisabeth is cast aside, whereas Sue is loved in part because she is young and ideal. The masculine gaze is destabilized and made hideous.
Impact and Cultural Significance
The Substance’s bold rejection of prejudice, ageism, and damaging standards of beauty that are particularly placed on women is its best feature. It places these problems in the context of real physical tragedies rather than abstract worries. Both Elisabeth’s age-based rejection and The Substance’s youth-fix are powerful analogies. Most critics concur that the movie does a good job of warning against beauty society.
Identity and Ageing
The Substance is really about aging, not only the physical transformation, but also how identity is treasured or ignored in societies that place a high value on youth. Elisabeth’s public persona and image are integral parts of who she is. Lust, imagination, nostalgia, and social reward are all represented by the younger Sue. Part of Elisabeth’s problem is coming to terms with her body and the recognition she no longer has.
Duality and Internal Conflict
Elisabeth and Sue’s relationship can be seen as a type of dual personality or a split self. One version that thrives on validation from other people, perfection, and public attention, and the other version which is older, more fragile, with regrets and traumas. It appears that both forms are a part of the same whole since they alternately dominate life. In this sense, the movie explores internalized self-hatred, the conflict between the current self and the remembered (or idealized) self, and ageing in general.
Performance and Dependency
Elisabeth seems to develop an addiction not just to “The Substance”, but also to the concept of rebirth. She sacrifices her body every week for the sake of youth, attention, and what she perceives to be the validation she no longer has. The movie implies that such a goal is toxic on the inside as well as the outside, causing feelings of guilt, jealousy, and self-hatred. The transformation is binding rather than freeing.
The film starts to lack substance and progressively gets worse. The third act gets increasingly disorganized, possibly even disorderly, once the premise has been established and the tension has been gradually increased. Some people believe that the increase in violence and ridiculousness is no longer coherent. The grotesque conclusion is remarkable, but it runs the risk of overshadowing the more subdued social and psychological concerns that were developed earlier. The body and horror imagery in the film work well together however, they can overwhelm the picture to the fault of it, the gruesome scenes can obscure darker emotional moments. There isn’t always a perfect balance between spectacle and sadness, and viewers who are more interested in character than images may find the change abrupt. At first, the stakes seem personal, they become abstract or hideous.
The Substance is largely successful overall. The film’s visual is memorable, and its central critique is incisive. Even when one of the primary duality’s parts turns monster, Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley make sure that both remain human. The terror serves as a metaphor as well as a sensory experience. It compels viewers who are uneasy about ageing, beauty, and loss to gaze, to wriggle, to think. However, for people who are sensitive to rhythm or who like delicate emotional arcs, the film’s excesses, especially in the final act, lessen some of its power. The psychological intricacy can occasionally be overshadowed by the show. Viewers who prefer suggestions over statements may find its overt social commentary offensive.
The Substance is an aggressive and relentless movie. It requires the audience to sit with discomfort, face social pressures, and observe the consequences of tying identity and worth to eternal youth. The acting, particularly Moore’s, give the illusion of reality a sense of emotional stakes, while Coralie Fargeat contributes an untamed creativity and a scathing, irate critique. Not many viewers will enjoy the film’s strong tone or lack of nuance, and it may overdo its terror and absurdism towards the climax. But since it doesn’t back down from what others merely half mumble, it is strong.
By Ashlee Perry
Caitlin 
Clara 
Kath Smart