Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley Are Addicted to Youthfulness. “The Substance” – Review
- Colton Gomez
- Jan 7
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 17
Review
By Colton Gomez | 01/07/25 | 3:16 P.M. Mountain Time
Horror, Sci-Fi | Rated R | 2 hr 20 min | "The Substance" Release Date: September 20, 2024
“The Substance” is a disgusting, sickening, thrill ride that never bores. It’s an entire conversation about feminine beauty and all the trauma, horror, and pain it causes women psychologically and physically. It pits women against each other, but especially against themselves. What is it worth to women to be beautiful? What does society tell them they’re worth? Director Coralie Fargeat engages us in conversation through absurdist and surreal lenses on women’s secondary status to men and their societal utility. It’s not a new conversation but it does address it in horrifyingly new and descriptive ways. As a main theme in this movie, she hopes to create balance.
I didn’t see this film in theaters. I wish I had—mainly to watch the reactions of the people around me. I imagine those who watched “The Substance” in theaters experienced a similar visceral reaction to audiences at the premiere of “The Exorcist” in 1973. There’s so many “WTF” moments that are accompanied with the most grotesque sound design to make you cringe into yourself but stay glued to the screen in horrified fascination. If you have a fear of needles and are especially squeamish, maybe sit this one out. This is not a popcorn flick.
Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is let go from her television network where she hosts a workout program. Television Executive Harvey (Dennis Quaid) is looking for young, hot blood. While at the hospital, following a car accident, Elizabeth is offered a chance to try some mystifying new drug called “the substance.” It duplicates your cells into younger, better versions until a fully formed “other self” crawls out of you. Each “self” has seven days to go about living while the other is in a comatose state. Elizabeth’s other self, Sue (Margaret Qualley), gets her old job but makes the program younger and hotter. Elizabeth becomes jealous of Sue’s life and Sue wants nothing to do with Elizabeth. The balance becomes unstable and the effects become more drastic. It all leads to a chaotic climax of true body horror.
Moore gives a powerful performance full of vulnerable truths. This is not a flattering role as she endures a lot in this film. She nails the character as she undergoes transformations of personality and state of mind to the physical transformation of her body that reflects her psyche. Her role is very physically demanding—not just the workout scenes. She’s a powerhouse in this film as she runs around covered in prosthetics and heavy makeup while delivering a very emotionally compelling performance. At the same time, it is frightening and amusing. I don’t know how Moore and Fargeat achieved this dynamic character but it is commendable.
The character of Elizabeth is so well written and defined. Fargeat does an excellent job of telling her story visually and letting Moore carry the emotions to where they need to land. My heart was breaking at the scene in which Elizabeth couldn’t do her makeup well enough to think she looks good enough to go out. She stares out at the billboard and gets reminded of the younger, hotter version of herself and she feels she can’t compete. She’s trapped, even by her own expectations.
Qualley also turned in a great performance. She played the dynamic of her character’s personality very well in complement to Moore’s. Her character was catering to men as she sought to feed her own vanity and secure her place at the top in this male-dominated society. She captured the spirit of a spiteful, hateful, competing young woman pretending to be an innocent doe. Her character was ironically self-absorbed and felt threatened by the prospect of aging. This role required much of Qualley’s physicality as well as emotionality and she delivered.
Quaid was so entertaining to watch as the aggregate sleazebag who gets to make or break careers. He’s so transparent with his sleaziness but the fact that he thinks he’s pulling one over on all the characters is just so much fun to watch. He brings an absurdism to the film in his over-the-top performance that’s accentuated with eerie close ups of his mouth and face.
The sets in this film are very well designed. They show the mental preparation Elizabeth undergoes as she prepares to make the “switch” or to be on television. Both of these are very unnatural situations and the mind needs a moment to shift to a different perceptive reality, essentially. They work very well of putting us in that headspace, too. They give us a bit of a breather while letting us know what’s coming.
The mystery behind the creators of the “substance” remains a mystery. It’s better that way. Nobody really cares about where it’s from or who made it and why. It exists. It offers a cure for aging with severe side effects (including aging). It’s better to let us know just as much as the characters in this case. We’re with them, we identify with them, we’re victims of the corporations as they are.
I’m certain this film will get nominated for the Makeup Oscar. I think it has a good chance of winning, as it goes way out there in design. There are many variations used to make Moore unnaturally old and eventually grotesque. It is astounding work. I feel grossed out thinking about what that creature spit out on the stage. With the sound effect, I’m sure it’ll be enough to make the queasy evacuate the theater or their stomachs.
This is certainly a different brand of five stars. It told me what it was about, it developed its themes excellently, it demonstrated the depth of its characters, and it did everything it set out to be. It surprised and shocked me. It wasn’t lazy. Fargeat uses nudity to establish and later recontextualize the male gaze. She shows us the same body parts but in very different contexts. She turns them from alluring to horrifying. The molecular oscillating synth sound created a great score. It was as if it was the actual sound of the substance’s advanced form of mitosis. “The Substance” is a great film. That being said, I don’t have the desire to ever watch it again.
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Review by Colton Gomez
Colton Gomez earned his BA in Film Studies from Weber State University. He owns and operates ColtonGomez.com. Here, he covers new releases in theaters and on streaming. For short versions of his reviews, check out his LetterBoxd
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