The Substance
After overhearing Harvey (Dennis Quaid) insist on replacing her as the lead of her aerobics program with someone younger, former Oscar winning actress Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) gets into a massive car accident after being distracted by the sight of her billboard ad being torn down. Following her medical assessment in a hospital, the smooth skinned, bright blue-eyed doctor’s assistant passes her a USB drive, insisting she is a perfect candidate for “The Substance.”
Laura's Review: B+
While one can see many connective threads between writer/director/coproducer/coeditor Coralie Fargeat’s first film, "Revenge,” from its gore, slick imagery, heroine’s exposed butt cheeks and “Lolita”-esque star shaped earrings, to this, her sophomore effort, this one is on an entirely different level. Winner of the 2024 Cannes Best Screenplay award, Fargeat explores Hollywood’s commoditization of women, the ageism which makes them disposable and the lengths aging stars will go to retain relevance in a film that also plays as Stanley Kubrick homage (with a touch of Stuart Gordon’s "From Beyond").
Given a brief lift by running into Fred (Nathan Rippy, "Taken"), a former tenth grade classmate who gushes that she is still ‘the most beautiful woman in the world,’ Elizabeth goes home and fishes that USB drive out of her trash, watches the promo which promises ‘a better you’ and calls the number. She’s given an address which leads her down an alley where she must squat to get under a gate and open her locker – number 502 - and retrieve the box therein. Back in her fishbowl apartment high above L.A., Elizabeth unpacks 3 items – The Activator (use once), The Stabilizer (use every day) and the Switch (use every week without fail.) Accessories include feed bags separated into 7 compartments, one for ‘you’ and one for ‘the other you.’
After examining her nude body in her all white tiled bathroom, she takes the plunge. Gasping and falling to the floor, we watch a blue eye fight for position with her green one while her backside separates up the spine. A younger hand reaches up and Sue (Margaret Qualley) emerges. She attaches the feed bag to her other, now inert, body.
Of course, Sue will audition to replace Sparkle and Harvey is so enthused he is undaunted by her request to only film every other week, saying she needs to go out of town to take care of an ailing mother. ‘Sparkle Your Life,’ the Jane Fonda-esque workout program, becomes a turbo-charged, techno beat slither and slide come-on with Sue swiveling her hips and wetting her lips in close-up. Sue, a much more vacuous creature than Sparkle, revels in male attention, partying it up and bringing home boy toy Troy (Oscar Lesage). Soon, she stops following the rules, sucking up more life from Liz than she’s allotted, which has dire consequences for her creator. Elizabeth calls to report the issue, is told she has the option to stop but that nothing which has happened to that point can be reversed. She demurs, for the time being at least, and the two engage in a battle of wills illustrated by the messes each awakens to, Elizabeth finding orgiastic party refuse, Sue the chicken carcasses and takeout containers of a feeding frenzy.
The film is hardly subtle and The Substance itself is an obvious reference to Botox injections, plastic surgery and Ozempic, but Fargeat layers in such subtext as the self-hatred society perpetuates on women’s self image, Elizabeth trying to regain self esteem by making a date with Fred, only to reject her appearance so many times she never leaves her apartment. While Fred is overwhelmed to actually be called by this magnificent creature, Sue’s date will aggressively ride right up to her on his motorbike, demanding she step aside. Meanwhile Harvey, made grotesque in fish-eye close-up and the exaggerated sound of his slurping up shrimp, dismisses her abruptly after delivering news of her firing in a restaurant.
Homages to Kubrick are many. “The Shining’s” long orange corridor and carpet grace the television studio, Sparkle’s bathroom is all “2001” white starkness (and ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’ is used on the soundtrack) and Sue’s heart-shaped hoops reflect Sue Lyon’s sunglasses. Elizabeth’s transformation recalls that woman in Room 237 and the film’s climax takes that bloody elevator imagery to new heights. Fargeat loops back to her opening montage (an overhead shot which shows us Sparkle twirling about in her glory days, a star for her installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to tourists’ delight before autumn leaves drift over it and we hear the words ‘Remember her?’), the Lovecraftian horror that is now Elizabeth imploding into something more like Hennenlotter’s “Basket Case” as it reaches for its star. And throughout it all, Demi Moore gives it her all in the performance of her career.
Mubi releases "The Substance" in theaters on 9/20/24.
