The Substance

Spooky season has rolled around once more, and as someone who's very selective about which horror he likes to watch, I was delighted to see The Substance pop up at my local cinema. A body horror that swaps cheap jumpscares out for some seriously unsettling scenes and imagery (Dennis Quaid eating shrimps in the first five minutes made me glad I didn't bring a snack), The Substance offers Hollywood a mirror into how it treats women and the expectations it forces upon them as they age.

Even an actress like Demi Moore is seen to be too old once she reaches fifty, and faces a career-defining decision. Does she fade away like a distant star, or will she try and recapture her youth by taking the Substance? The Substance as a plot device is wonderfully vague. Without spoiling anything, it simply creates a younger, better version of an original person. Following this split, you have to stabilise your new body with fluids from the original once per day, and switch back to your tired, saggy self once a week. Simple rules that we know are going to be broken as time goes on, and as the euphoria of recaptured youth takes over our protagonist, Elizabeth Sparkle (Moore).

It has been a minute since The Substance released and so I've been able to keep track of the discourse surrounding the film. Unsurprisingly, there's huge praise for Moore and Margaret Qualley (who plays the newly created, younger version of Sparkle). They both throw themselves wholeheartedly into the strange, campy atmosphere The Substance creates. Moore especially feels refreshing in a film where personalities are turned up to eleven. Her normality only serves to make her fall into madness later on feel that much more severe, combined with the physical transformation Sparkle goes through. A weirdly enamouring performance was that of Dennis Quaid, who is a vessel for all the grey agents, Hollywood executives, and more that will push women to be a perfect example of their sex while also failing to take care of themselves in any manner at all. Quaid delivers banger after banger in his lines, bringing levity and an incredibly campy energy that you wouldn't expect from him, especially after his performance as Reagan earlier in the year.

The film's messaging has been heavily discussed. To some, it's a seminal piece on the treatment of women in Hollywood, while to others, the message doesn't need to be analysed at all, and you can just have fun with the gore and story of The Substance. Personally, I think the film is clearly critiquing how the TV and movie industries treat women, even if it doesn't always do so very well. At a base level, it's very easy to see what the film wants to say, but as The Substance is a movie that leans into the gratuitous, both in its gore and its sex appeal, sometimes it feels as though it is contradicting itself. Yes, I understand that Margaret Qualley's character of Sue is seen as sexier than Moore due to her age, but I don't necessarily need her arse in my face every minute to acknowledge that. It sometimes detracts from the movie, and while it feeds into the campy atmosphere The Substance creates, that added gratuity prevented it from being anything more than super fun for me.

The visuals and sound of The Substance are outstanding. Sitting close to the screen at the theatre, there were multiple moments where I wanted to shut my eyes and ears. Bones popping, skin bursting, teeth falling out, even shrimp eating all create that brilliant sense of sickness in your stomach. If you're into your body horror and love to see the red stuff, you'll find plenty of it here, without it ever feeling like it's going into mutilation for the sake of it. The Substance uses food really well, too, as Sparkle's own vice. You won't want to eat for a week as she spirals into food as her only escape from the trappings of her own need to be young and pretty once more. Elizabeth Sparkle is a great character, and I wish we'd seen more of her before she decides to take up the Substance.

At two hours and twenty-odd minutes, The Substance is quite a substantial movie, but it's paced so well that it flies by all the way up to the last thirty minutes. That final act has been controversial for many, and I have to say I fall into the camp that believes it was just unnecessary. It's where the film fully gives into itself, turning up the dial on its gore to the point where you just feel numb to it all. It brings about a fitting end, but one that feels sort of tacked on. Something more vague could have served The Substance well, giving it a more unsettling feeling overall.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed The Substance, and would recommend it to anyone who wants a refreshing body horror experience this spooky season. I've not found it as exceptional as some, but it's still a raucously fun time, bolstered by fantastic performances, visuals and sound that'll linger in your memory for longer than you'd hope.