In the age of Ozempic and the glamorisation of various plastic surgeries, the beauty standards projected onto women get scarier by the day. The Substance is a body-horror tale that depicts the journey of Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), whose fitness instructor career is failing so she strives to improve herself. Elisabeth discovers ‘The Substance’, a mysterious neon-green liquid that creates the ‘best’ version of herself, which is portrayed by the character of Sue (Margaret Qualley).
The dramatised relationship between Elisabeth and Sue, reminiscent of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is used to critique the demonisation of ageing and unconventional beauty standards for women. In the year 2024, this topic is very relevant with the fast rise of the fat-loss drug Ozempic, which I believe is intentionally very similar to ‘The Substance’. The Substance uses these issues to denounce the expectations placed on women, using a melodramatic tone intended to expose this stupidity. The character of Harvey (Dennis Quaid), Elizabeth’s manager, is portrayed as a dumb, megalomaniacal man who is emblematic of the faults within the patriarchy. When this misogynist character encounters Sue, it perfectly shows the audience not only the damaging nature of the Hollywood industry, but how destructive the male gaze is.
One scene at the end fully displays this destructiveness with the monstrous-feminine (spoilers): the audience is shown a deformed female body that gets heavily bullied on stage. This being is created from all stages of ‘The Substance’, but also the result of trying to please the incessant all-consuming male gaze. This finalises the intriguing fever-dream quality within the film; its unapologetic gruesomeness is what makes the film stand out.
However, many have seen this film as un-feminist, and pandering to the male gaze. Little White Lies journalist Hannah Strong writes how director Coralie Fargeat is “regurgitating old talking points about Hollywood’s obsession with beauty and its fear of ageing”, explaining how The Substance is nothing new. Strong goes on to reference “hagsploitation”, the fixation in horror films on old womanly bodies. For years, horror films have been accused of ‘cheap’ horror for exploiting women’s ageing bodies, depicting a natural process as something terrifying. Some recent examples include films such as X with the elderly villain Pearl, and IT Chapter Two when Beverly encounters an old-lady-turned-monster. This arguably aligns with patriarchal ideals, agreeing with the opinion that women ageing is something abnormal and wrong. The final monstrous being in The Substance can be said to be a continuation of this, with a sagging breast falling out of its body.
Despite these criticisms, these provocative scenes can be seen as a full critique of the demonisation of ageing. Fargeat almost takes it too far, but only to stress the idiocy of Hollywood’s demonisation of sagging, wrinkly feminine bodies. The Substance is meant to exist as a thrilling tale that is purposefully upfront with its meanings, fully shoving these multi-faceted ideas in your face and leaving you sitting with it.
4/5
