The Substance
With even her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame now becoming faded and cracked, it is inevitable that with the passage of time the original flesh of Elisabeth Sparkle will also decay despite her vigorous efforts to maintain her beauty, required to be professionally toned and trim at all times as host of the aerobics show Sparkle Your Life, dazzling viewers with the promise that near-unattainable goals can be theirs if only they sweat as hard as she does.
Time is cruel, and so are people; Elisabeth now fifty, her star is fading and producer Harvey wants someone young and hot and “now,” Elisabeth discovering she is to be replaced when she overhears a telephone conversation; distracted, she is in an accident where after being assessed an unfeasibly handsome hospital orderly suggests she might try “the substance” which changed his own life, promising that it will release “a better version” of herself.
A satire on Hollywood and the wider entertainment and beauty industries, where women are expected to remain flawless, desirable and available, scrutinised by audiences and critics and subject to the whims of male producers who would never pass the first hurdle were they required to approach the standards they demand and dictate, The Substance is written and directed with glorious, gleeful and ghastly delight by Coralie Fargeat.
Scrutinising herself in the mirror and judging herself tarnished, Demi Moore is Elisabeth, dressed in black and gold, the colours of the logo of the Substance as she unlocks the safety deposit box at the drop site and injects herself with the green serum, triggering an agonising reordering and expulsion of flesh, bleeding on the bathroom floor where she has been torn open down her spine as “Sue” (Margaret Qualley) rises in her place, claiming Elisabeth’s life and successfully auditioning to be her replacement.
As with Gremlins, there are three rules, and they are simple: activate once, stabilise every day, Sue drawing spinal fluid from the inert Elisabeth and injecting it into herself, and switch every seven days so their lives are shared evenly, but intoxicated with her new presence and parabolic career Sue slowly begins to dominate, claiming more time as the two halves of her life diverge, Elisabeth waking later and later to find she is the one bearing the burden of Sue’s dereliction of her obligations with irreversible decay.
Dorian Gray dissected and in an orgy of organs which recalls The Shining with its carpeted corridors and the hag hiding in the bathroom, Elisabeth competes with herself on an uneven playing field, Sue consumed by the fame monster and sacrificing them both to serve it, The Substance one of the most original, outlandish and outrageous films of the year in concept and execution as it transforms into a twisted mutation stood under the spotlight demanding adoration from audiences too shocked to know how to react.
The Substance is currently on general release
