The Substance (2024) - Pitch-Black Satire Meets Supernatural Drama and Body Horror - 9/10 (01/10/24)

The Substance is a pitch-black satire, supernatural drama and body horror movie that has rightfully gotten much attention for its excellent acting, twisted plot and wonderful settings. Cinephiles will notice that this movie combines elements of supernatural dramas in the key of The Picture of Dorian Gray, psychological horror stories such as Carrie and body horror elements like The Fly. Even though the film's general idea is everything but new, it has been executed with such care that it might end up winning multiple awards now and in the near future.

Let's discuss the excellent acting performances in this film. Renowned actress Demi Moore, whose remarkable acting career started forty-three years ago, might be giving the greatest performance of her life. She incarnates a former Academy Award-winning actress with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame whose career has been in progressive decline. When her aerobics television show is canceled upon celebrating her fiftieth birthday, she is afraid to disappear into oblivion. Obsessed with beauty, fame and recognition, she goes to great extremes to give her career another boost. Margaret Qualley plays the athletic, beautiful and talented young woman who replaces the aging actress in the aerobics television show. While she is careful, polite and even shy at the very beginning, she becomes arrogant, manipulative and self-centred as the story progresses. Her obsession with fame, money and sex takes drastic tolls upon her life.

The twisted plot most certainly deserves its own paragraph as well. The movie starts with a slow pace in its first third, develops steady pace in its second third and truly quickens up the pace in its most dramatic final third. The script combines numerous genres fluidly and logically. This movie is a pitch-black satire of ruthless Hollywood executives and fame-obsessed actresses. It's also a personal drama about the challenges of aging and the issues of achieving stardom at a young age. The film turns into a body horror movie by the end that might shock viewers upon first view who are unfamiliar with this particular genre. This genre however has an intellectual point and wasn't just thrown into the mixture to get a strong reaction from the viewers. The movie's devastating ending shows how some actresses and actors are willing to give everything they have and even are to achieve stardom.

Another element that deserves acclaim are the movie's settings. The beginning of the movie takes place in a sunny city and on luminous television sets to illustrate the idea of beauty in Hollywood. The exact contrast is however portrayed when the protagonist ends up going to the man's restrooms as she hears a dreadful conversation of a media executive who speaks of her as if she were worth less than a piece of meat. The same contrasts can be observed in the protagonist's condominium that looks costly, elegant and luxurious at first sight but gradually becomes dirty, messy and soulless. This contrasting guideline can even be found in the film's very ending as an ambitious New Year's show turns into shocking carnival of depraved behaviours. Let's also add that the visual special effects in this movie have been executed with great care and will most certainly leave a lasting impression upon viewers.

At the end of the day, The Substance might not be as innovative as some cinephiles claim but the movie certainly impresses with stellar acting, clever plot twists and most remarkable settings and special effects. If the mixture of a pitch-black satire, a supernatural drama and a body horror movie with intellectual depth and strong messages sounds intriguing to you, then do yourself a favour and watch this wonderful movie. Be aware however that the final third is graphically violent, so make sure to have a positive mindset and a strong stomach.