Aging is something we all experience no matter what. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or who you are; you are going to progressively get older and older until you die. You can try to fight the effects of aging through exercise, supplements and surgery, but you will never truly reclaim what you’ve lost. Now imagine taking those themes, stuffing them into a cannon, and launching them point blank into your face. That’s how you get The Substance.
It’s been a good year for horror in 2024, and The Substance may just be one of the best the year has to offer. It’s as subtle as a shotgun blast to the head and gratuitous as all hell, but I absolutely loved it. This is a high-energy B-movie that’s bursting with style and electricity, while also managing to be both absurdly funny and cringe-inducingly grotesque. Despite never letting up, it does go on a bit longer than it needs to, and while its lampooning of the fame machine isn’t bringing much new to the table, it’s still an absolute blast to experience. Think of if the show Severance was directed by Baz Luhrmann.
The film follows an aging Hollywood starlet that feels the world is ready to leave her behind once she turns 50. Desperate to stay in the spotlight, she’s turned on to a sketchy serum called The Substance, which creates a younger, prettier version of her that she must trade consciousness with every seven days. But when the two women are unable to follow the serum’s rules to a T, the results become disastrous as body parts begin to decay, morph and transform into something truly terrifying.
The two connected women are played by Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, and rather than both trying to do impressions of one another like you may expect, their performances are vastly different. Qualley is a peppy, fame-hungry up and comer that names herself Sue and shares some of the desperation Moore’s Elisabeth has about her image and popularity. Sue is the hot new thing that becomes addicted to the lights and attention on Hollywood, which causes her to break the rules the serum enforces and literally extracts more time from the body of Elisabeth. Qualley is one of my favorite actresses working today and I’m glad she’s still picking the weird shit, managing to be sexy and psychotic, sometimes all at once. Moore was the standout for me though, as her character goes from being fairly understated from the start before going absolutely insane by the end. She’s been abandoned by the industry she helped prosper for decades, being told that the natural forces out of her control are to blame, which manifests into a self-disgust that drives her to cling to youth in dangerous ways. There’s a lot of difficult physical work that goes into this role and a lot of vulnerability, and I think Moore really kills it. Also, Dennis Quaid plays a loud, disgusting TV executive that is so cartoonishly great. This is the Dennis Quaid movie of the year, not Reagan.
I was instantly struck by the frenetic energy of the camera work, with each scene having a playful and creative approach to it. It’s quite a different feel to what you may expect from a horror film, which usually relies on slow-paced tension building. Yet, it does maintain the genre’s provocative nature of focusing on female nudity, though it feels much more integral to the film’s themes rather than a tool for the male gaze. Other time’s the camera is purposefully disorientating you or getting a little too close for comfort, always taking a purposeful, interesting route that keeps the film ever-engaging.
This pairs alongside the loud, vibrant visuals as well, utilizing a bright and bubbly color palette that creates great juxtaposition to the terrifying and gross moments you’ll experience. The glitz and glamor of fame is rightfully candycoated, almost to a sickening degree, proving that the scum that operates inside it is just as gross as the monsters it creates. One only has to see Dennis Quaid absolutely destroying a bowl of peeled shrimp to get that. And then there’s Elisabeth’s bathroom, whose sterile, fluorescently lit sheen manages to create an otherworldly discomfort with very little color at all. I love when horror films can commit to a loud, boisterous visual style and not have it come out as headache-inducing.
But like I mentioned before, the prettiness of the film is combated by some disgustingly impressive practical effects. From the initial body birthed from the back that kicks off the film’s central conflict to the off-the-deep end bodily transformation that happens later in the film, you’re sure to squirm at one point or another. It can get incredibly vile, as blood, puss, and other bodily fluids begin to seep and shoot from seemingly every orifice. As the film goes on, we also get some stellar prosthetic work that completely transforms one of the characters, building up to a big, campy final creature that goes balls to the wall nuts.
At the heart of it all is the theme of women in Hollywood and how they can be treated because of their age. Unlike men, who are usually allowed to age gracefully into their careers, women have always seemed to lose stock once they hit a certain age. This can obviously lead to things like self-hatred and body dysmorphia, and I think the film utilizes these ideas in a pretty compelling way. The whole catalyst for using the serum is birthed from a hatred of the life you can no longer achieve, which is manifested physically into a more perfect you that gets to be celebrated while you rot away. And this is something you won’t be able to miss because the film purposefully shoves it down your throat as preposterous as possible. I do think there are moments where it’s a tad too on the nose like where it calls back to parallels that were foreshadowed earlier in the film. It kind of felt like unnecessary hand holding, but the rest of the film is purposefully gratuitous to match its maximalist presentation.
I had some issues with the pacing by the end, as it felt like it was really stretching out its final act, but other than that I think it is quite the home run. It’s one of the grossest films I’ve seen in ages that still manages to have something to say, feeling like a mixture of The Fly, Akira, and even Requiem for a Dream. It’s unabashedly over the top and is unafraid to get as goofy or uncomfortable as it can. This takes B-movie aesthetics and elevates them in a vein similar to Cronenberg or Carpenter, but with its own unique voice that is sure to make this a modern classic with time. If you have the stomach for neon colored vomit and the flesh doing things it really shouldn’t, do not miss this one, because it’s some of the most fun I’ve had at the theater all year. Going to a theater that serves full meals was probably not the best move on my part.
RATING
THE ACTIVATOR
Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect? Well, there’s no miracle cure to achieve that, but you know what has been making people looking better than they actually are since the beginning of man? Alcohol! The Activator will unlock that better you, all it takes is one (or two, I’m not your mom) injections. This fun, bright green cocktail is modeled after the titular substance in the film, packing a bright, citrusy flavor with a little bit of spice. To inject this beauty straight into your esophagus, I highly recommend using a fun cocktail syringe. Just don’t go too crazy; what is lost can not be reclaimed, including your dignity.
INGREDIENTS
- 1.5oz tequila
- 3/4oz Midori
- 3/4oz chili liqueur
- 1oz orange juice
- 1/2oz simple syrup
- 1/2oz lemon juice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add ingredients to shaker and shake with ice.
- Strain into glass over fresh ice.
The Martini Shot 