“The Substance” (2024) took the world by storm last year with jaw-dropping and grotesque body horror that shocked and enthralled viewers. The film secured an impressive five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress, an incredible feat for a film from the usually snubbed horror genre.
Directed by Coralie Fargeat, the film follows fictional aging TV star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore). A once up-and-coming star whose career failed to take off, Elisabeth is let go from her aerobics TV show after reaching middle age so she can be replaced with a new, younger star. This causes Elisabeth to spiral and forces her to deal with the fact that she no longer feels or looks youthful.
“The Substance” is not a film that holds back with its symbolism and messages. Although it is a portrayal of how society treats women who have passed their “golden years,” the film also uses its unique and disturbing plot to depict the lengths people are willing to go in order to return to the limelight. This motif is repeated throughout the film through constant references to the spotlight.
The film begins by showing a passage of time, from the peak of Elisabeth’s popularity and the installation of her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to an aged Elisabeth staring soberly at a glass globe housing a female figure with gold sparkles floating around it..
Soon, Elizabeth is introduced to The Substance, a promised cure to all her ills. Those who take The Substance generate an additional, younger double that can live for seven days at a time as long as they take a stabilizer generated by the original body. Frustrated by her reality, Elizabeth takes the bright lime-green “substance” and, through a grotesque and disturbing faux-birth, creates Sue (Margaret Qualley).
This birthing scene truly represents the highlight of this film's greatest strength: its visual effects and makeup. Fargeat did not hold back in any regard with the body horror. Each effect was so detailed that I couldn't tell what was real and what wasn’t. This scene also features dizzying cut scenes that illustrate the physiological process Elisabeth undergoes and enhance the viewer’s psychedelic experience.
Sue represents the ideal beauty standard and plays into all the archetypes of what it means to be young and fun. She quickly auditions for and gets Elizabeth’s former aerobics job. While Sue spends her seven days enjoying the success that comes with youth and beauty, Elisabeth spends hers depressed and lonely, sitting idle until it is time to return to “being” Sue.
Over the course of its run, the film evolves into a much deeper and darker allegory for our current society and its perspectives on the roles of the old and the young. Fargeat skillfully uses the same set to create two different worlds for Elisabeth and Sue. The editing effectively zeroes in on the increasingly dark and dull world of Elisabeth, symbolizing the loss of her spark. Images of Sue surround her, consuming her with envy and insecurity. In contrast, Sue remains bubbly and bright from her first appearance onwards.
Fargeat’s cinematography beautifully emphasizes Elisabeth’s melancholy, using her physical environment to invite viewers into her psyche. This is complemented by a phenomenal performance by Demi Moore, inspired in part by her own experiences.
From the beginning, Demi Moore saw reflections of herself and her experiences in Elisabeth. Moore’s career started with a number of small film roles throughout the 1980s before her breakout as Molly Jensen in the blockbuster hit “Ghost” (1990). The highly acclaimed role even landed Moore her first Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
She kept up this momentum for several years and retained her A-list status, culminating in her taking the leading role in “Striptease” (1996). This performance was poorly received, earning Moore a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress and a reputation as “box office poison.” This contributed to a professional downturn that relegated Moore to sporadic — and usually small — appearances throughout the 2000s and 2010. Then came “The Substance.”
Demi Moore's performance in “The Substance” has been widely regarded as among the best of her career. For her role as Elisabeth Sparkle, Moore received Best Actress awards from the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and her first Academy Award nomination. She’s also gotten a potential career resurgence, being cast in Boots Riley's upcoming movie, “I Love Boosters.”
Her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes — her first major acting award in the 45 years of her career — was undoubtedly the most powerful of all her speeches. She discussed being disheartened by a producer’s comment 30 years ago that she was a "popcorn actress" and how she internalized that — and similarly harsh media comments —- as a reflection of her worth as a performer. She mentioned that, by the time Coralie Fargeat approached her with this opportunity, she thought her career was over. Demi ended her speech by celebrating the award as "a marker of [her] wholeness and for the love that is driving [her]... and being a reminder that [she does] belong."
Fargeat's and Moore’s efforts in "The Substance" turn the film into a palpably sincere, raw representation of the inner thoughts of women working in the industry. The greatest takeaway from the film and Demi Moore’s journey is that there is no timer on success.
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