Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a now 50-year-old former film star that is dismissed from her aerobics TV show by a truly diabolical producer, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), due to her age. After falling into a depression and getting into a car accident, she learns from a nurse of a mysterious black market drug known only as the Substance.
The Substance promises a younger, more perfect version of whoever takes it. Elisabeth takes the drug and soon after, she splits into another person that names herself Sue (Margaret Qualley). There are certain catches here as Sue can only be active for seven days before she must switch her consciousness back into Elisabeth and vice versa.
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| Demi Moore plays the self-doubting Elisabeth in "The Substance". |
Sure enough, Sue becomes the newest, hottest woman on television after Harvey hires her for a new show to replace Elisabeth. Unfortunately, Sue starts to get mad that she doesn’t have more time and begins to let Elisabeth stay down longer than the seven days, thus stealing more of Elisabeth’s life force.
From there on is a wild journey where Elisabeth’s decline both physically and mentally clashes with a more and more aggressive Sue. The David Cronenberg-inspired body horror is imminent.
Of course, as we know now, Moore was nominated for an Academy Award and deservedly so. This may be her best character yet as Elisabeth deals not just with her own self-doubt but also the societal pressures that are put on women that makes that self-doubt even worse. I’m sure Moore, a veteran in the industry, was able to add her own personal experiences to the role and not only was she deservedly nominated for an Oscar, I’m fairly certain that she should have won.
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| Margaret Qualley plays Sue, a supposedly more beautiful version of Elisabeth, in "The Substance". |
It’s no secret that one of Hollywood’s darker aspects is how fast they are willing to kick out women just because they may not make the cover of a magazine anymore or that they can no longer play the smoldering sex symbol.
Throughout the movie, there are focused shots on the female body as either Elisabeth or Sue dance during their shows that also puts a focus on the toxic male gaze. Quaid represents the worst of this theme as one of the slimiest characters I’ve seen in a long time that is sadly only a moderate exaggeration of some real producers in Hollywood. I’ll just put it this way and say that I don’t think it’s any coincidence that his character’s name is Harvey.
Moore isn’t the only one who turns in a dynamite performance here. Qualley is equally up to the task as Sue, a younger and seemingly more beautiful version of Elisabeth. Soon, after she gains success, she becomes addicted to the lifestyle and never wants it to end and makes choices that may not be so wise for either her or Elisabeth. I think Qualley was sort of snubbed by the awards shows as well.
As the movie progresses, it becomes intentionally more satirical and even more darkly comic as it addresses its feminist themes. I will say, though, that at two hours and twenty one minutes, I did feel that the movie was a tad too long and that it definitely dragged in a couple of places. Also, there were a couple of visual-effects that I think didn’t work quite as well, especially when compared to the extraordinary practical effects makeup that definitely earned the film its Best Makeup and Hairstyling award for Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli.
In spite of a few blemishes, though, “The Substance” is a nail-biting satire of how women are treated in the industry, especially on how they are treated when they age. Elisabeth is still a beautiful woman at the beginning of the movie, but she’s made to feel like she’s somehow deformed due to the influences of those around her.
Sadly, this leads her to make a decision that makes that self-doubt a brutally gory reality. It also makes this one of the best body horror films ever made.
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