“The Substance” is grotesque, jarring and honestly quite gross. What it lacks in dialogue it makes up for in creeping noises and visuals. The film’s gory nature glaringly contrasts with the idea of youth and beauty standards, becoming almost unbearable to watch — but that’s precisely the point.
The body horror film, directed by Coralie Fargeat, follows celebrity TV personality Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore). Facing an entertainment industry that is rendering her obsolete because of her age, Moore uses a black market drug called “the Substance” that creates a younger, “more beautiful” version of herself. But, the two selves must switch off every week, or suffer near-fatal side effects.
Elisabeth’s new self, Sue (Margaret Qualley), takes over Elisabeth’s TV show and quickly becomes unsatisfied with only living half of a life. Sue begins to take extra days, leading to an intensified deterioration of Elisabeth’s body, the physical atrophy mirroring the industry’s and society’s treatment of aging women. Elisabeth becomes increasingly destructive in anger, going through episodes of binge-eating and self-loathing.
Moore’s portrayal of Elisabeth feels oddly analogous to Moore’s own career, which has mirrored that of many other women who dominated the entertainment industry in the ’80s and ’90s. Moore has said that she struggled to maintain her footing in the industry, adding that she has been called a “popcorn actress” during her 2025 Golden Globes acceptance speech. But the audience doesn’t see Moore as undesirable when the film opens. Looking at Moore, one has to think “she looks great.”
But the world within the film tells Elisabeth that she is invisible, unworthy and a relic, which forces the audience to reckon with their own complacency in these narratives. Elisabeth Sparkle is forced to fight for her place in the world, but so is Moore. But, instead of a fictional horror, she is fighting against decades of Hollywood’s relentless erasure of aging women.
When Sue refuses to switch back to Elisabeth until forced to, Elisabeth deteriorates to the point of becoming unrecognizable. Elisabeth is unable to bring herself to terminate Sue, and Sue kills Elisabeth. Without Elisabeth’s body, Sue begins aging on the day of her big break: a New Year’s special. In an act of desperation, Sue tries to split herself in two again, turning into a monstrous multi-headed creature.
She is rejected, feared and insulted by all in a bloody massacre of sorts. She becomes monstrous in the eyes of the world that once adored her.
The final act is a descent into destruction, a full transformation into a body that no longer belongs to her. It’s the ultimate horror of womanhood: to be consumed, replaced and discarded. The film doesn’t offer an easy resolution because there isn’t one. The system is broken and the cycle is endless.
The characters constantly see their reflections not only in mirrors but in glass panes, in the eyes of others and in the giant billboard of themselves that leers into their apartment. Fargeat plays with this concept of gaze, panning and sweeping over both Elisabeth and Sue’s bodies.
The scariest part of “The Substance” isn’t just what happens to Elisabeth. It’s the way the viewer understands it. It’s a reflection of what society already accepts, does and believes. It’s realistic, plausible and relatable. Every woman, at some point, has looked at herself through the eyes of a man and scrutinized her body the way she’s been trained to.
“The Substance” blurs the line between the self and the perception of the self. Elisabeth and Sue see each other as separate people but share an eerie consciousness. They both exist, yet only one is allowed to matter. Elisabeth and Sue’s relationship mirrors how individuals often look at young stars with jealousy and necessity, but look at older stars with disdain and discomfort.
And maybe that’s what “The Substance” is really trying to tell us: The horror isn’t just what happens to Elisabeth. The horror is that society is not that far off from what is depicted in the film.
