A few years ago, Julia Ducournau’s Titane altered the benchmark for the body horror film. Building on classics such as David Cronenberg’s The Fly, Ducornau brought the genre bang up to date through the female gaze. French director Coralie Fargeat, who made her debut with 2017’s Revenge, now presents her take on this pus-filled, innardbursting style of horror movie. The Substance is, in a word, mental. And definitely not for the faint of heart or those easily disgusted.
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a faded 50-something celebrity who is sacked from her job presenting a fitness show. In the aftermath of a car accident, she is given the opportunity, through a black-market drug called the Substance, to create a younger version of herself that she calls Sue. The catch is, this self comes ripping out of her back, and the patient must go between the young self and the old version every 7 days, while the other body exists in catatonia. Elisabeth (as Sue) gets her old job back, and breaks out as a star.
Soon both selves grow to hate each other, which will lead to disaster… The first aspect of this film to mention is the bravery and power of the two lead performances. Moore’s depiction captures Elisabeth’s narcissistic yet vulnerable persona and her descent into madness with an intensity rarely seen in her previous work. Margaret Qualley as Sue matches all of the aforementioned qualities, and then some. Both handle the film’s nude scenes, of which there are many, with courage and dedication.
Fargeat, just like Ducournau, is a hugely talented director. The aesthetic on display here is something to behold, with surreal, stylised imagery offset by the extreme suffering visited on Elisabeth. The film’s strength is that it draws you in with beautiful images, then presents something that either turns your stomach or makes you want to look away from the screen. Be prepared for a lot of extreme close-ups of injury details that only amp up to further extremes as The Substance progresses.
What sets films like this apart from your run-of-themill Saw sequel is the thematic depth and undeniable power of the filmmaking on display. The Substance becomes a little heavy-handed, especially with its exploding-viscera OTT ending. However, the film succeeds as a modern day fable about the dangers of identifying with your physical form when you inevitably age, and tackles society’s obsession with youthful female-presenting bodies. Just avoid eating before seeing it.
The Substance opened in cinemas on 20th of September 2024
The Substance is available to stream on Mubi from 31st October 2024.
