You either braved the sight, or smacked your hands over your eyes every two seconds. Personally, I’m not ashamed to admit that I was in the latter category.
“The Substance,” directed by Coralie Fargeat, does an incredible job of making every scene just too uncomfortable to view. It follows Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, an aging 80s film star, as she navigates her way through the idea that she hasn’t been young–for a long time. The movie strongly criticizes the way women who are forced into the spotlight are treated and how once these women lose their looks, the public will often dump them in favor of a fresh new face.
Frustrated and beaten down by this “hitch” in her career, and as washed up as she will ever be, Sparkle finds refuge in less desirable solutions to her problems after she’s exposed to an ad for a product, “the Substance,” that promises a better version of yourself.
Desperate to feel like she’s worth something again, Sparkle hits a low to acquire what she’s so sure she needs. The packaging is unassuming, the instructions blunt. You can be the very best “you” you can be, but you must switch off every week. No exceptions.
If the directions are followed correctly, Sparkle will be granted a window of time during which she is the best version of herself that she can be. Weary and determined, Sparkle begins the process. What unfolds can only be described as any dedicated movie-goer’s worst nightmare.
The film pushes boundaries when it comes to graphic visuals. I was lucky enough to watch the movie in a theater and thus experience when the etiquette in the theater died.
“The Substance” leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination, with everyone collectively gasping and bursting into breaks of shocked chatter and disbelief as images of the human body flashed across the screen in ways I cannot mention in a school newspaper.
Long story short, Sparkles learns there is no free lunch. Naive to the consequences of her own actions and delighted by the fame her new body is attracting, a younger Sparkle, played by Margaret Qualley, who’s dubbed herself “Sue,” fights to give herself more time. This is when her experience with The Substance begins to truly fall apart. In a R-rated display of practical effects and showers upon showers of fake blood, Sue comes to realize that she doesn’t get to keep the life she so desperately desired.
Overall, everything is masterfully driven home in an absurd show of the monster lurking beneath a woman’s insecurity. Some may describe it as over the top, especially the last half hour of the movie, and yes, it is absolutely outrageous–but it is an enjoyable delight. “The Substance” is an unabashedly brilliant bloodbath.
Don’t take your kids, and finish your food before the movie starts. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
Remember, You Are One.
