I will put it plainly; see 'The Substance' with the biggest group of friends you can organise, on the biggest cinema screen you can find. Its audacious violence, laugh-out-loud satire and general chaotic energy are an experience to share and cherish. Writer/director Coralie Fargeat pushes the audience and her lead star Demi Moore ('The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent') to their absolute limits, with results that are sure to be talked about for years to come.
'The Substance' swaps out the misogyny and sexual violence of Fargeat's insane first feature, 2017's 'Revenge', for something more satirical and sillier. 50-year-old Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore) is in the twilight of her career, going from award-winning film roles to an 80s style home workout show. Think Jane Fonda's workout videos but sexier, the reference complete right down to Elisabeth's high-cut blue leotard and silver belt. Anyone with eyes can see that she is still looking fabulous; however, in the first of many ludicrous scenarios, Elisabeth is devastated to learn that her producer Gary (a slimy Dennis Quaid, in his best work in years) plans to pull the plug and search for a shinier new host. Desperate to cling onto her last moments of fame, Elisabeth is put onto a radical new drug called The Substance that allows her to become a "better" version of herself. The procedure splits Elisabeth's cells, resulting in the picture-perfect Sue (Margaret Qualley, 'Kinds of Kindness'). The "body swap" goes amazingly until, of course, it doesn't, and soon Elisabeth is fighting not only for her body but for her life.
SWITCH: 'THE SUBSTANCE' TEASER TRAILER
To go further into the specifics of Elisabeth and Sue's journey would be a pure cheat – the fun of 'The Substance' is seeing how far Fargeat can push the audience when they have no idea what's coming, and I mean it when I say this film goes in directions I didn't imagine possible. It's all incredibly confronting but essential to the film's point of just how far some will go when suffering intense insecurity and loneliness. There are films that have looked at the shallow nature of Hollywood and the pressure on women's appearances in far more effective ways than 'The Substance,' but none have ever done so in such a fun way. The body horror is indulgent, and the cast are clearly having as much fun with it as audiences will. Even the non-violent scenes are pure eye candy, dripping in symmetrical blocking and colours so bright you might need sunglasses. Sue's aerobics get-up, an even more revealing pink leotard, is shot as if Qualley is a Barbie doll on a slow-spinning podium and should be destined for Halloween costume greatness.
One might argue that 'The Substance' is so style-drenched that it lacks, well, substance, but that's due to Fargeat's unique visual style doing all the talking instead of an overly-explained script. The sounds of bodily functions are cranked up and body parts are shot from uncomfortably close angles. Moore is certainly game and gives her most fearless performance in decades. Those looking for the metatext will obviously notice the parallels between Moore and Elisabeth's careers, a symbol of Hollywood's yester-generation for those who think women "expire" after turning 40. The film invites us to leer at both Moore and Qualley in extended sequences of full-frontal nudity from both actresses but knows exactly how to make these moments empowering rather than voyeuristic. Sue knows she's a weapon of beauty and utilises it, getting exactly what she wants from the chumps drooling hard enough to always give it to her. It sounds like a difficult thing to pull off in a film with very little dialogue, but Qualley's performance is such a physically subtle one that she makes it look incredibly easy.
To go further into the specifics of Elisabeth and Sue's journey would be a pure cheat – the fun of 'The Substance' is seeing how far Fargeat can push the audience when they have no idea what's coming.
Funnily enough, one of the best sequences of the film is not the obligatory third act blood shower that Fargeat is beginning to make her trademark, nor is it Sue's gleefully violent attempts to stay in control of Elisabeth's body. Instead, it is a completely dialogue-free scene of Elisabeth getting ready for a date. It's a sequence removed from the Hollywood machine entirely, a scenario in which almost every woman has most likely found herself; Elisabeth looks great and feels confident but is soon rocked by an unmissable billboard of Sue right in front of her apartment. A frantic changing of make-up and outfit culminates in an anxious Elisabeth standing up her date when she can't get her appearance just right. By not heightening this sequence in the same style as the rest of the film, Fargeat cuts through to the real, everyday horrors that everyday women face and shows that she doesn't need to go crazy with how she tells the story; she simply wants to for our enjoyment.
In my MIFF 2024 preview, I wished for 'The Substance' to catapult Coralie Fargeat to a new level of reverence, and I am glad to report that not only is that future inevitable, but it's also deserved. At 48, Fargeat has no doubt herself been a victim of the insecurities we see Elisabeth face, and by turning them into a sick, stomach-turning joke, she ensures that no one will ignore or forget them. Certainly, I will never forget this film.