THE SUBSTANCE (2024) is one of the best horror movies from the past decade. Watching it can change the viewer’s perspective on aging and beauty standards. It was a spectacular example of how horror can be merged with an important message. Coralie Fargeat directed the two and a half hour film, and the shooting lasted from 2022-2024.
The movie follows a failing star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) in her attempt to regain her youth by “making a better version of herself,” using an elixir dubbed “The Substance.” I think using a star who has been known in part for her physical beauty as well as her acting, herself, dealing with aging and being out of the acting industry for a while (her prime acting career was in the 1990s) was an excellent idea, as I can imagine Demi Moore has experience with her character’s feelings. It makes it feel much more authentic.
One of my favorite aspects of the movie is the impeccable special effects makeup, such as their work with the monstrous effects of the substance to Elisabeth’s body. Pierre-Oliver Persin, the main makeup artist, explains in an interview with Marie Claire Magazine how he and his makeup team went all out to make the body-horror in the movie as realistic as possible. “We designed it completely from scratch. We did tons of maquettes in every way possible. We did old-school, plastic maquettes, hand-sculpted, state-of-the-art computer-generated maquettes, Photoshop—everything in between.”
The movie also has creative cinematography, giving the audience an immense sense of impending dread. The marketing of the movie also made it absolutely irresistible to me. Prior to watching the movie, the trailer at the movie theater piqued my interest. It included the movie’s soundtrack, including intense electronic music. To add to this, it included a modern and contemporary setting, unlike anything I had ever seen in a horror movie.
When comparing it to Fargeats’ previous work, such as the movie REVENGE (2017), it showed major improvements in all aspects. However, she managed to have such a strong message in both films, although I believe that THE SUBSTANCE did a much better job at displaying the message that society’s view on women’s beauty can be extremely destructive and can cause women to take drastic measures.
Overall I believe that this movie was a real breakthrough in film and contains an important message, almost a critique on the film industry itself, with scenes that bluntly show how the film industry treats the more conventionally attractive characters with more respect than the aging and less “pretty” ones. I would recommend it to anyone who likes watching long movies…and watching beautiful body-horror.