I know we’ve only begun the Halloween movie season, but thus far, The Substance has risen above all the other horror flicks I have enjoyed this year. 2024 has been a great year for scary and wicked fare. Among my other favorites are The First Omen, Late Night With The Devil, Abigail, Longlegs, and Strange Darling. Right now, if I had to choose a second favorite, it would be Strange Darling.
Those movies are great for delivering thrills, chills, surprises, and, sometimes, laughs, but The Substance leaves all of them coughing in the dust. It isn’t so much that The Substance is completely original, but it utilizes its inspirations beautifully and elevates them to further legendary status, with an equally legendary and cult classic level of insanity. This film is one of those features that will leave non-horror fans angry, and the horror fans screaming its title with giddy joy.
Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, an A-list celebrity in her younger days and the longtime host of a television aerobics show. Having just turned fifty, and with her studio execs seeing some drops in the ratings, Sparkle gets unceremoniously fired by her misogynistic boss, Harvey (Dennis Quaid). Desperate for another opportunity to revive her stardom, Elisabeth enrolls in a special, exclusive rejuvenation program called The Substance. The Substance involves the injection of an activating agent, followed by stabilizers, special food, and strict instructions to never deviate from the process.
Once Elisabeth injects herself with the activator, she undergoes a bizarre and disturbing metamorphosis with a new face and body emerging from her body’s host shell. Now, appearing in her twenties, she takes the name of Sue (Margaret Qualley). and decides to get her job back. Immediately smitten and obviously titillated by Sue, Harvey casts her in a new, “more modern,” and more shameless version of the old exercise show. Excited and overjoyed, Sue first takes on her “new life” with great zeal and a renewed lust for life. However, she eventually discovers the severe consequences of not following the rules to a tee, when her success and popularity become an addiction.
Written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, The Substance plays out like a fever dream-turned-nightmare. Inspired by the body horror of David Cronenberg, and the wild ideas of horror filmmaker Frank Henenlotter, Fargeat delivers a jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring, and utterly disturbing experience. The bizarre gags and the absurd direction she takes her story are not just for shock value and entertainment. There is a very well-defined message behind it all, involving social commentary on fame, the addictive nature of loving the celebrity status, the unrealistic standards of beauty that are expected of famous people, and the chauvinistic and misogynistic history of the mostly male-driven celebrity machine.
The screenplay is excellently written, the movie is superbly directed, and the lead actors in the film are all outstanding. Demi Moore, who is actually sixty-one years old, still looks incredible, despite her character and boss refusing to see her that way. Moore boldly bares herself, body and soul, and unabashedly takes on this difficult role with much aplomb, enthusiasm, and a hauntingly beautiful vulnerability. As Sue, the younger version of Elisabeth, Margaret Qualley is fantastic as the more spoiled, petulant, and immature new celebrity who wants the highs of fame injected directly into her heart. I don’t know if Dennis Quaid was born to play TV exec Harvey, but he will make you believe he was. He is absolutely slimy, disgusting, obnoxious, and thoroughly hateful as Elisabeth/Sue’s boss.
I can honestly see non-horror fans leaving this film, calling it slimy, disgusting, obnoxious, and thoroughly hateful too. However, true horror fans might say some of these things, but then follow it with, “I love it.” Whenever I wasn’t shocked or disturbed, I laughed and applauded. I didn’t cry, but I can certainly envision both David Cronenberg and Frank Henelotter weeping tears of joy, for The Substance is their cinematic grandchild. Bravo to Coralie Fargeat for birthing this beautiful beast of a film.