The Substance (Mini-Review)

The Substance is a body horror movie. Elisabeth Sparkles, once a famous actress, feels that her age is impeding her life. So when she is offered something that is supposed to make her young again, she decides to try it. The service splits Elisabeth into both her old self and a younger self named Sue. One week Elisabeth is awake and able to live her life and the next week Sue is awake. Soon enough both halves begin to resent the other. The Substance was released in 2024. It was directed by Coralie Fargeat. It stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid.

There are no mid or post credits scenes. I would recommend sitting through the credits to give yourself time to process the movie before having to go out into the world again.

I decided to see this movie because I am a fan of body horror movies. So I was aware that things would get disturbing but I didn't realize how far things would go. If you are squeamish I would recommend staying as far away from this movie as you can. It's a great movie but not for everyone. In the credits special thanks are given to extras of a certain scene which should alert you to how bad things go in the movie.

Besides the obvious body horror, the main thing dealt with in the movie is the fear of aging. The Substance is said to create two halves of a whole. Which means both halves are the same person. Which, going even further, means that the complex feelings we have for ourselves are very literally represented. With Elisabeth we have the part of ourselves that fears aging and feels that no one wants us because we aren't young anymore. With Sue there is the part of ourselves that feels young and loathes that we aren't young anymore.

One of the most heartbreaking scenes has no body horror in it. Elisabeth is trying to remind herself that she is worth something and decides to go on a date. But each time she sees the large poster of Sue outside she changes her look. It physically hurts to see someone know they are worth something and yet deny it. I wanted to yell at her to go on the date. Maybe if she had gone on the date then things would have turned out differently.

I would highly recommend The Substance to those looking for a great body horror movie. I would also highly recommend The Substance to those looking for a great horror movie.