The Substance brings a fresh coat of flesh to the sci-fi body horror genre, while tackling themes of age, beauty, vanity and the perpetual desire to be accepted and admired. The film is elevated by its visually striking cinematography.  The sharp, vibrant colors of the character costume design and set pieces pop off the screen, helping create a surreal world inspired by the Hollywood machine but injected with outlandishly delightful sci-fi fantasy elements. 

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Dennis Quaid plays a welcomely over-the-top smarmy bag-o-tricks entertainment producer who is amusingly grotesque and vulgar. I would argue that seeing and hearing him eat a plate of cocktail shrimp while he lectures Demi Moore’s Elisabeth Sparkle on her fading beauty and fame, is more revolting than the gore-palooza that comes later. The sound design and mixing is impeccable. Small details are amplified and placed in the spotlight, perfectly pairing cringe-inducing noise with the disgusting side-effects within The Substance.  

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It’s difficult to talk about The Substance without giving too much away, but here’s a vague list of aspects of the plot that’ll be encountered and from there you can decide if it is up your alley or not:

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1. Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore invasive and provocative ‘Jazzercize’ routines.

2. Mysterious glowing green syringes full of a “substance” 

3. Gremlins-like Rules for starlets desperate to keep their fame and the not so pleasant side effects of ignoring those rules.

4. Blood, guts and I don’t know what the hell that is…or that…oh my god it just keeps happening. This movie will push your buttons and make your skin crawl at times, that is, after it splits you open, gives birth to a younger better version of you, then sews you back up, good as ew…

5. There isn’t really a 5th thing. I guess I’ll bring up the overarching theme that chasing eternal beauty might not be worth it, but it’s mostly an excuse-vessel to display as many sick, twisted, revolting things as possible in its 2 and a half hour run. 

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If any of this is up your alley, The Substance is definitely for you. Its Cannes award for best screenplay was well deserved as it stands out as an original concept that isn’t afraid to take chances and steps so far over the line, you wonder if there was ever a line present in this world in the first place. 

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Demi Moore is charismatic, dynamic and sympathetic in her portrayal of Elizabeth Sparkle. While you know where her journey is leading in her use of the mysterious “The Substance” drug you still cling on to her story, hoping it might turn out differently for her. 

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Margaret Qualley gives an effective performance as Sue, Elizabeth’s ‘younger, more beautiful’ version of herself as formed by the use of the mysterious drug. However it is Demi Moore who stole the show within her lead role bringing real emotion, self consciousness and relatable human empathy to not feeling comfortable in your own skin (literally) especially as time goes on. 

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On a personal level, the ending seemed to drag on a bit too long with it seemingly being possible for the movie to have been trimmed down under 2 hours. After a while the movie begins to slowly deteriorate, not unlike some of the characters in the movie do. Despite this, The Substance is well worth a watch if you’re into gory Sci-fi body horror à la Re-Animator and are also looking for a message of body positivity to share with your young children (ok, maybe not that last part).