Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance asks us a deceptively simple question: What if a single drug could make you perfect? In today’s internet age, it’s already more difficult to control what random strangers think about you. Yet being a star-studded celebrity is even tougher work when your “perfect body” gradually withers away with age. Even if you still look attractive to the average eye, it hardly matters when your own self-image crumbles, even if these anxieties are purely skin-deep. Surely, taking one injection to create a much prettier, happier version of yourself is all that’s necessary to live a better life, but at what cost? Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), an ex-TV star, is thrust down this perilous path when deciding to try the titular drug for herself. As this satirical body horror ruthlessly displays, true perfection can only destroy those who most desperately seek it.
The Substance is only Coralie Fargeat’s second feature-length theatrical release, and this writer-director is already carving out a very unique voice in modern horror cinema. Her debut film, Revenge, was so widely acclaimed for its subversive approach to exploitative rape-revenge sleaze that it immediately propelled Fargeat’s name into mainstream territory. In The Substance, she takes the over-the-top bodily grotesqueness of David Cronenberg’s early work, such as The Fly or Videodrome and grounds them in a story that ironically urges us not to hate our own physical appearance. It’s a surprisingly positive message for such an uncompromisingly ugly film, which actually isn’t as incongruous as it may sound.
Throughout The Substance’s rapid descent into madness, Elisabeth is given every opportunity to terminate Sue (Margaret Qualley), her cloned “perfect self.” Ultimately, however, she values her short-term time back in the spotlight over the long-term consequences of dangerously abusing this black-market drug. When she is herself, she grows to despise Sue’s objectifying sex appeal and smiling insincerity. When she is Sue, she grows to despise Elisabeth’s accelerating physical deterioration and utter lack of self-restraint. These women are just two sides of the same coin, yet they become fundamentally opposed to each other in every conceivable way. If Cronenberg’s The Fly is a tragedy because its main character never has control over his own horrible circumstances, The Substance is a tragedy because Elisabeth always does have control.
Fargeat’s outlandish ideas jutting out of The Substance are already such creative concepts on their own, but how they are visually communicated particularly stands out. When Elisabeth first injects the drug’s “Activator” solution into herself, she suffers a gruesome physical transformation that creates Sue. This only sets even more extreme bodily gross-outs into motion; the film’s utterly icky central posters, depicting a woman’s grotesquely injured backside, really say it all. Although those gruesome scenes are always tempered by pitch-black humor, they feel no less effectively disturbing, especially with such impressive practical effects, making all this over-the-top imagery seem so real.
Even setting aside Fargeat’s monumental skill at crafting superb body horror, The Substance’s directing maintains a bracing sense of energy during each and every scene. Throughout this film’s unbelievably fast-paced 2.5-hour runtime, her aggressive camerawork and vibrant use of color are pushed to their absolute highest extremes, making its heightened sense of reality downright mesmerizing. In the opening scene, construction workers are installing Elisabeth’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where it practically glitters in the sunlight. As countless years pass, this becomes just another worn-out slab of stone, a hallmark of success no longer captivating any passerby in awe. That doesn’t just foreshadow Elisabeth’s aging, literally chipping her celebrity status away- it also brilliantly sets up one of the decade’s best-ever final shots.
Graphic body horror is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, but the sheer level of purposeful storytelling and outstanding craftsmanship Fargeat put into The Substance is just awe-inspiring. Moore and Qualley turn in career-best work through their dual lead performances. Yet, a special note must actually be given to Dennis Quaid, who feels utterly believable as a slimy industry creep. Suffice it to say this film’s social commentary is incredibly unsubtle and obvious. Still, for a stylistic approach as forcefully in-your-face as Fargeat’s, that feels like the exact point. She has crafted a cinematic rollercoaster ride bound to leave you dizzy and discomforted yet utterly immersed in the wild journey she takes you on. Whether you find yourself embracing or resisting such an intense experience, your mind will never be able to fully erase it.
