The Substance is Grotesquely Beautiful

Credit: People

Demi Moore’s award-winning comeback film is a must-see body horror that challenges reality and the illusion of eternal youth.

By: Joelle Carr

In a world of fillers, botox, and semaglutides, the fading aerobics star Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) injects herself with a new science-defying aging alternative. The neon green substance duplicates parts of her DNA and creates a younger, hotter clone of herself. 

We all have things we would like to change about ourselves. Would I go as far as separating my DNA and birthing a clone out of my back? Probably not, but who knows how the future of anti-aging propaganda might damage my brain and what it might persuade me to succumb to.

Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance” opens on the exercise show of Elizabeth Sparkle, sealing the end of her birthday workout with a kiss to the camera. She overhears the TV executive, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), crassly discussing replacing her with someone younger, and she is later fired from her show. Nothing says “happy birthday” like firing someone, right? She’s only 50, but she feels she’s just been carted off to a nursing home.

Elizabeth is alive, but she’s not living. While the network is searching for the “new Elizabeth Sparkle,” she is wasting away in her high-rise apartment, surrounded by the mementos of her successful youth. She finds herself fishing a business card out of the trash and climbing through a dirty alleyway to find the cure for aging.

Demi Moore is a marvel in this science-defying body horror. The actress’ undeniable beauty morphs into an unrecognizable figure, defeated by the insatiable desire to stay young. There is an obvious satirization of our cultural denial of aging women, and the lengths people will go to halt the natural process.

The film is underscored by a 1980s-esque upbeat sound, bright leotards, and a fast cutting editing style that replicates the speed at which the Substance deteriorates Elizabeth’s life.

The Substance follows a strict regime: allow your clone to tear through your skin, fall unconscious, feed your body with a bag full of beige fluid, and switch every seven days. The clone, Sue (Margaret Qualley) admires her naked self in the mirror, stitches Elizabeth’s back closed, and sets off to audition to be the new Elizabeth Sparkle.

The bouncy, perky Sue immediately settles into her role as the new and improved Elizabeth Sparkle, but the position is far more real than the adoring public realizes. Down to her molecular makeup, she is Elizabeth Sparkle, but she wants more. The more attention and affection Sue receives, the harder it gets to “respect the balance” and return consciousness to Elizabeth. 

What seems like a foolproof plan to relive your glory days and have everyone fawning over your effervescent personality is just a fast track to losing your body and mind, simultaneously.

The conclusion of Elizabeth Sparkle and Sue felt like letting out a deep sigh and feeling the stress run off your shoulders. While some might grimace at the physical manifestation of Elizabeth’s insecurities, “The Substance” is a shockingly touching portrayal of beauty standards and the crime of aging.