"The Substance: The Promise of Perfection and its Dark Side"

If you’re interested in movies that combine science fiction, body horror and social criticism, "The Substance" is just what you need!

The story immerses us in the life of a famous actress, Elisabeth Sparkle (played by Moore) who, on her very fiftieth birthday, is fired from her job by Harvey (Denis Quaid), the head of the television studio where she works. Harvey decides to fire her, and she considers it a product whose expiration date has come to an end. He is an extremely unpleasant, repulsive being, and his sinister presence will have a fundamental weight throughout the plot.
Disoriented and bitter, Elisabeth is in a car accident. She has no injuries, but one of the doctors, recognizing her fame, slips a black market entry note between her clothes. Elizabeth, already at home, finds this note. Intrigued, she decides to find out what it is.

It is a cell-replicating drug, capable of creating a younger and improved version of the one who dares to ingest it, called "The Substance". It is undoubtedly effective, but has horrible side effects if you do not follow the instructions in detail on its packaging.

After the ingestion of the mysterious substance, Sue’s existence (played by Margaret Qualley) bursts into Elisabeth’s life, "born" somehow from her spine.

Elisabeth becomes addicted to the substance, absolutely unable to accept her true appearance and the stage of life she is in.

He begins to make increasingly risky and dangerous decisions. It sets aside the precise instructions of the substance, endangering its health and mental stability.

Elisabeth is increasingly isolated from the outside world. She concentrates all her energy on Sue, her younger version. Exhausted, empty and alone, bold pilgrim on this uncertain journey towards "perfection".

Sue, determined and voracious, gradually eclipses Elisabeth, making her opaque, insignificant. This identity conflict manifests one of the film’s primary themes.

In "The Substance" we find high impact scenes, which reveal the devastating effects of the drug. My favorite is when Elisabeth, in a desperate struggle to keep her youth, injects herself with an extra dose of the substance. Then he loses his hair and, with glassy eyes, his skin begins to disintegrate, finally leaving exposed to our astonishment, all his body bloody and in living flesh grotesquely.

Now Elizabeth is just a howl of martyrdom and despair. With fascinating special effects and a magnificent performance by Demi Moore, this scene reaches a powerful climax of veracity that will remain etched in our hearts.
Precisely here, very specific aspects of the film are addressed: the obsession with eternal youth and the risks of seeking "perfection" at any price. Elisabeth, in the debate between her essence and her youth, raises crucial, very obscure questions about human identity and authenticity. It is the very embodiment of collective fear, of old age, loss of charm and finitude of human being. It takes us to the extreme, to the edge of a dark and annihilating abyss. "The Substance" is critical, exposure and question about the ethical limits of science and technology, with a precise and certain attitude regarding the alteration of the human body. The drug that allows Elisabeth to change challenges us in a brutal way. How far would we be willing to go to reach "perfection"?

It offers a profound, raw and dizzying reflection on society, revealing certain dire mandates regarding the role of women.

What is it that makes each person who he is, but his essence?

I mean that which determines your being, making it unique and unrepeatable. What envelops your essence is an accident, a shell. The fact that you are blonde, clear eyes, you’re 20 years old and you call yourself Andrea, does not define who you are. None of your external features can do this. What I really need to define you is your substance, that which sustains you and is related to your essence. It is not seen and is intangible.

Now, as for the social demand regarding female beauty and youth, I wonder why, of a man, after fifty, we usually say that it is "an exquisite vintage wine". For a woman of the same age, however, the only thing that can be achieved is, hopefully, that she is "well preserved". Like a vacuum-sealed vegetable can. Well preserved and empty. End! Perhaps this demand for eternal youth in women has to do with reproductive capacity. If you are no longer able to procreate, at least pretend to be. In the case of men, it is not so, because their reproductive capacity is sustained over time. Something instinctive and related to the survival of the species.

I tell you that this film was released during 2024 and won the Best Screenplay award at Cannes. It is entertaining, critical, bold and stands out for its great quality.

Fargeat navigates skillfully and permanently between realism and liquidity, in a game that forces the spectator to stay glued to his seat. The combination of raw, black humor and high-impact special effects take his narrative to the extreme with crucial backing from Raffertie’s soundtrack. Along with the disturbing, magnificent performances of Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley this delight suitable for black palate is ready to be tasted by degusted every lover of body horror.

If such a substance is available on the market, would you try it?