The Substance (2024), directed by Coralie Fargeat, stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Oscar Lesage, Gore Abrams, Joseph Balderrama, and Robin Greer. The film follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore), an aging celebrity who begins using a black-market aging treatment known as “The Substance.” Every other week, it allows the user to swap into a younger, more superior body. Foolishly avoiding the treatment’s strict guidelines, Elisabeth begins experiencing horrific side effects of dissociation. As her two selves drift further apart, Elisabeth’s obsession with youth is turned upside down, becoming her ultimate enemy. 

The film is essentially a two-performer show led by Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley; thankfully, both are wonderful. Moore is completely authentic as an aging sex symbol. She conveys a certain level of exhausted dread that would come with massive fame being snatched away. The thing is, this feeling of losing one’s place doesn’t just apply to celebrities; It can likewise be applied to just about anyone who feels like they lack purpose. This allows the pain the character feels to extend to the audience because it avoids being too specific. There’s also an impressive physical element to her performance that includes how she’s unafraid to show off the entirety of her aging body but also allows it to be framed in a way that’s not very flattering. She sacrifices her beauty to give herself up completely to this role and I think it works. Without this kind of committed performance, the film’s effect would have been noticeably less. It also takes full advantage of the audience’s preconceptions of beauty by portraying Qualley’s younger, more visually attractive version of Elisabeth as the truly ugly being. Speaking of which, Qualley is perfect in her role. She is jaw-droppingly sexy (as intended) but likewise cold and almost “plastic.” The dichotomy of these characters works so well because as one half’s body deteriorates, so does the other’s morals. It’s fun to watch even if the viewer can predict where it’s all headed at a certain point.

I think it would be a crime not to mention Dennis Quaid here. He goes so over-the-top as an unhinged television producer that he may be the most memorable part of the film for some people. It’s also great casting visually, he has a simile that is simultaneously warm and concerning. In another life, I could see the guy working as a clown (and I don’t mean that as an insult). Isn’t that essentially what actors are, though? Overpaid clowns? Just another reason not to get your political advice from entertainers.   

The film’s previously mentioned predictably doesn’t hurt the experience too much considering that most of its joys come from the execution as opposed to where it’s all leading. The thing is, I think this could have been easily avoided if the movie wasn’t so damn long. After a perfect first act, the script begins to feel plodding and redundant. In other words, it feels as if the film makes the same thematic points over and over again until it feels like it doesn’t trust the intelligence of it’s audience. The story is already so appropriately connected to its themes on a surface level, so why hammer it home so much? Even though I loved the experience, I still found myself checking my watch throughout the third act. This is strange because the third act is one of the most zany and creative parts of the film. You know your film is too long when the audience is tired by the time they reach what even they admit is the best part.

Thankfully, those are my only real negatives with the movie. It harkens back to what feels like the golden age of David Cronenberg-esque body horror. References include but are not limited to The Fly (1986), The Thing (1982), and even Society (1989). It references these but has a style and thematic substance all its own. I enjoyed director Coralie Fargeat’s previous film Revenge (2017), but this is a movie that truly excites me for whatever she makes next. She’s easily a director to watch.

Overall, in a year of great horror, I do not doubt that this will go down as one of its best. It’s well-acted, directed, written, and shot, yet it doesn’t feel pretentious. It features a clear message/theme, but unlike so many “art films,” it doesn’t forget that it has to deliver an entertaining experience first and foremost. People will call this a “B movie” simply because of its genre and tendency to really “go for it,” but I think it’s something a bit more carefully formed. It’s the rare kind of movie that tries to deliver on an intelligent and emotional level but also mostly succeeds in doing so. It’s not for the faint of heart, but “heart” this movie has. We all know that’s the source of true beauty. A-