The Substance
Rating
Director
Coralie Fargeat
Screenplay
Coralie Fargeat
Length
2h 21m
Starring
Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Edward Hamilton Clark, Gore Abrams, Oscar Lesage, Christian Erickson, Robin Greer
MPAA Rating
R
Original Preview
Review
To make a film about ageism in Hollywood, you must invariably make your film outside Hollywood. The Substance is the case-in-point for why it must be done in order to get the most effect.
Demi Moore stars as Elizabeth Sparkle, a teen sensation who rose through the ranks of Hollywood but as she approached her 50th birthday, her roles began to dwindle, leaving her with a weekly workout show to her credit. As the show’s producer (Dennis Quaid) seeks a new star to replace her, Elizabeth turns to an experimental new treatment called The Substance. It will give her youth and vitality…at a cost. Her body metamorphoses and creates a significantly younger duplicate.
Sue (Margaret Qualley) takes on the role that Elizabeth has been aged out of and begins to enjoy the youthfulness she now possesses. While the balance is to be respected, including daily shots and a strict 7-day window for activity, Sue decides to take more and more for herself. This causes Elizabeth to age quickly. Without being able to coexist, the two struggle to keep the balance and a horrific end may greet them both.
After spending more than a decade in the wilderness of Hollywood, Moore returns with great strength and passion in a project that lends itself well to her skillset. She infuses her years in the wilderness where a producer’s suggestion she would only ever be a box office draw undercut her confidence. It helps to color her work. Not only does she anchor the film, she does so with a forcefulness and certitude that make her performance, like her namesake, sparkle. It’s a vulnerable role that she bares her soul in and its a tremendous piece of work.
Qualley and Quaid are strong as well. Qualley makes the vainglorious Sue into a wounded villain of sorts. We are repelled by how she treats her other half but ultimately feel remorse for the position into which she’s been forced. She’s matured quite well as an actor and it will be interesting to see if she can springboard this into a more broadly visible career and not suffer the same fate Moore did for more than two decades. Quaid makes the lecherous producer feel as loathsome and repulsive as intended, an example of the type of producer who sees women as objects to be commodified. He embodies the kind of callous treatment of others that exemplify his politics so perhaps it wasn’t much in the way of stretch?
Writer-director Coralie Fargeat has a fascinating premise in place with The Substance. It’s clearly informed by horror films of the past, with plenty of homage within the film’s frames. There’s also a clear inspiration from David Cronenberg and other body horror legends and that it pays homage and doesn’t steal is a nice touch. Few filmmakers have the ability to define their own place in a familiar genre. The problem is there’s a point at which the film becomes excessive. Any fan of horror knows that a good bloodletting is called for and A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Shining had great moments of that. However, those directors, Wes Craven and Stanley Kubrick respectively, understood when to pull back from the gore and let its imagery linger. Fargeat doesn’t let that happen and by the point when it becomes overbearing and overwhelming, it undermines a lot of the buildup that leads to that moment.
The Substance is the kind of film that endures not just because of its gross-out moments. It’s when those moments form the underpinning of a great thematic experience that the film lingers. You can have all the great practical effects and makeup work you want but if you don’t have a foundation of psychological or societal commentary, you’ll be quickly forgotten. This film won’t be easily disregarded, nor should it.
Review Written
March 25, 2025
Leave a Reply