Demi Moore’s Body Horror Movie Is Crazy

Field: Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is a star. You know that because one of those highly coveted squares of brass and cement on Hollywood Boulevard has her name on it. But her peak of fame was long ago, and now, at fifty, she’s out of a job as a Jane Fonda-style fitness host. She’s still a beautiful woman, but her awful producer, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), wants to find someone younger for the job. This makes Elizabeth the perfect client for… The Substance.

The substance, shrouded in secrecy as is often the case with such drugs and science fiction devices, is essentially a drug regimen that creates a younger, more perfect version of the user to share their life with. The rules are simple: One “self” spends a week living their best life while the other “self” is in a vegetative state—the two of them sharing their lives “as one” as they alternate weeks living in perfect harmony.

But that harmony only exists when everyone involved follows very clear instructions. And Elizabeth’s other self (played by Margaret Qualley), who takes the name Sue, is thrilled with her new young body and the possibilities it opens up. So thrilled, in fact, that Sue soon breaks the rules to steal more time for herself—and Elizabeth realizes she has to defend herself.

Plastic surgery in an extreme version: Topics Substance aren’t exactly subtle or fresh, as writer/director Coralie Fargeat dives headfirst into the angst, stress, and sadness of growing older — what we lose as we age that we can never get back. But the fearless commitment of everyone involved, and the chaotic joy the film finds in exploring this premise to its wildest conclusions, make it one of the most memorable viewing experiences of the year.

The body horror elements in the film are significant; it is not a film for the faint of heart. However, the effects of the titular Substance need be that intense, considering the grotesqueness of contemporary plastic surgery techniques, from poison injections to acid peels and slicing the face open at the seams to tighten the skin. Decades after Terry Gilliam Brazilwe have become quite desensitized to how crazy some of these very real treatments are, which is why this is a necessary solution Substance become as graphic and weird as it does. It may not be a movie you’ll be able to watch more than once. But its graphic horror/thrills make it impossible to ignore.

Cover Girl: Demi Moore hasn’t been sitting idle for the past few years (this year alone, she was a series regular Conflict: Capote and the Swans), but she hasn’t had a showpiece role like this in a while. It’s a cliché that her performance is fearless, but you really feel like she’s showing everything — not just her whole body, but her whole self.

Watching Moore play Elizabeth also has a real impact, considering how much of her early career was about objectification; in her 2019 memoir, From the inside to the outsideshe wrote a lot about the body image issues she developed during this period, so it’s amazing how she looks at everything that’s fucked up about the cosmetics industrial complex, especially its ugliest aspects.

Ten years ago, the idea of ​​Moore getting a Best Actress Oscar nomination for a film like this would have been relatively absurd. In recent years, however, Academy voters have proven to be much more open to wilder projects (see, for one example, Everything everywhere and at onceat the 2023 Oscars), and Moore feels she has a real chance here.

Seriously, Dennis Quaid is so disgusting in this: The “real” enemy Substance may be society, but as a secondary antagonist, Sue Margaret Qualley is quite menacing. Sue lacks the depth that Elizabeth brings to the screen, a side effect of both women being so defined by their looks; at least Elizabeth has the pathos of knowing what she’s lost, while Sue is simply thrilled to be young and perfect again. Still, Qualley brings a level of promiscuity to the role that ratchets up the tension in important ways.

Though it’s mostly a two-man show, Dennis Quaid’s supporting role as Elizabeth’s producer is a masterclass in portraying the Worst Man in the World — it’s as if Fargeat told Quaid there was no such thing as an exaggeration, and he believed her. But his performance is in balance with the film’s overall tone; in a film full of gross-out moments, Very the close-up of Quaid eating shrimp is disgusting. (Kudos to the sound design team for creating the film’s bold soundtrack in general and for making this scene uncomfortably realistic in particular.)

Verdict: The biggest criticism that can be made Substance is that its plot may resemble Twilight Zone episode – but all the best Twilight Zone episodes clock in at under 30 minutes. This movie, meanwhile, stretches out to an overly long two hours and 20 minutes, which gives plenty of time for long panning shots over Qualley’s body and Moore’s awkward hand-waving.

However, while the second act could have been much tighter, the film’s ultimate climax exceeds any expectations of how far this idea could go, culminating in a sequence that is both funny and (for lack of a better word to describe it) “sweet.” The mess may be on screen, but it’s enough to make you want a poncho — that’s how visceral it is. Ultimately, Substance It doesn’t say anything new, but the extremes it is willing to go to make it an unforgettable film.

Where to watch: Substance hits theaters on Friday, September 20th.

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