A gruesome portrayal of Hollywood beauty standards is captured through the surreal and bizarre production by French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat.
The Substance is a 2024 horror film directed by Coralie Fargeat. It stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, Margaret Qualley as Elisabeth Sparkle’s younger counterpart, Sue, and Dennis Quaid as Harvey, Elisabeth’s producer.
The movie focuses on Elisabeth Sparkle, an elderly TV celebrity who was fired by Harvey because of her age, so she buys a drug from the black market known as ‘The Substance’ which would make her appear younger. She becomes a younger, more lively version of herself, but at a frightening price. This movie does a phenomenal job with its disturbing special effects but fails to create an actual plot with slow pacing.
Despite its disturbing visuals and intense performances, Fargeat’s The Substance is empty rather than engaging. The movie’s main goal was to tell a gruesome story of modern society’s obsession with women’s youth and beauty, yet it fails to tell a cohesive and enjoyable tale leaving most of the major ideas undeveloped.
Moore delivers one of her strongest performances in years, embracing the film’s hideous mutation scenes and horror elements, and the concept is certainly unique. Qualley also does an incredible job of playing the younger version with an eerie personality that enhances the unsettling tone.
But instead of truly exploring its characters or problems, The Substance depends too much on graphic images and quickly becomes repetitive. While the body horror is unique, it sometimes appears unnecessary and relies more on shock value rather than adding to the story.
The movie never truly commits itself to diving deep into these issues, and any actual character development gets drowned out by a chain of constant vulgar scenes.
Additionally, the lethargic pacing of the movie fails to engage audiences.
The Substance drags its scenes for almost two hours with barely any dialogue that comes out as dull. Taking a concerning method of insanity, the plot becomes predictable as all the bodily horror starts to set in.
By the time the movie reaches its terrifying conclusion, the overwhelming gore presented previously has less impactful effect. What should have been an unexpected, powerful criticism of the beauty industry instead appears as an outrageous film that disturbs the audience and does not resonate with the viewers.
With its amazing imagery and unsettling special effects, The Substance is a visually striking movie, and Fargeat is a skilled director. However, its style alone is not enough to make the movie stand out.
As The Substance lacks a meaningful plot and fully developed characters, those searching for deeper insight into beauty standards should look elsewhere.
Although, those obsessed with body horror movie could find something to enjoy about it.
