Lately, my YouTube homepage has become my primary source on what new movie is out there. That - and penguinz0’s video - is how I discovered The Substance, a body-horror movie released in September 2024, and my curiosity was sustained by the countless discussions popping up on Reddit. One weekend night, I decided to check it out.
My God what a movie - I squirmed and winced in my seat, but I also laughed and felt touched by its message. It is a dark comedy after all. The movie follows a Hollywood actress facing her post-prime years of life when society no longer finds her attractive. Driven by this dread of being forsaken in her career and social life, she restorts to this mysterious, underground technology called The Substance that promises a restoration of youth, and this changes her life forever. That’s the summary of the movie, so no spoilers for you yet. I’m mostly going to talk about the movie’s themes, so there won’t be spoilers, or maybe let’s say - mild spoilers.
In terms of its visuals, the movie does a great job with its cinematography, and most scenes, if not all, have minimalistic solid-color backdrops with very less clutter, and this does an effective job of applying focus and contrast to the main characters - there is nothing to distract you from the movie’s subjects. It reminds of me of Squid Games that had visuals of similar effect. Everyone is front and center, so watch what happens to them.
Horrible things happen to them, and the movie isn’t afraid to show it. The movie has two polar characteristics - one being youth and beauty, and the other is aging and decay. The interplay between these two elements sets the foundation for the underlying horror in such a way that even when generous amounts of perky breasts and ass are in the movie’s shot, a feeling of unease is always there as it makes you realize or anticipate the dreadfulness that will shortly follow. I found this concept very interesting - the movie makes the sexualization of its characters feel creepy, instead of arousing or exciting.
What makes the characters go through this grotesque journey is the main source of horror in this movie and its messaging. Elisabeth, our aging Hollywood star has a big mansion in LA, but it is empty - she lives alone, with all but her thoughts of crisis for company. Her career opportunities are gone as the sleazy producer of her show makes it clear - he’s looking for a young and hot replacement. In her eyes, the world doesn’t seem to want her anymore. When attractiveness is a big success factor in your line of work, every wrinkle, sag, and gray hair deepens the darkening pit of anxiety. You feel it every time Elisabeth stares at her body in the mirror. Sue, another main character, is the embodiment of desire and ambition, and she’s relentless in her pursuit of success, and she is quite successful - but it all bears a cost.
I liked how the movie makes it clear that these feelings are how Elisabeth perceives them. This is how she feels about herself, and maybe if she turned around a little bit she’d realize there are some places in the world where it’s not all that bad and that her idea of self-worth can come from elsewhere that’s not her looks. There is this man in the movie who is still enamored and attracted to Elisabeth despite her age, and he’s this small nudge towards this idea that there’s still beauty in her. His awkwardly presented note with his phone number becomes her treasured possession. But every time she stares at herself at the mirror you see how firmly obsessed she is with fixing herself. You understand it too - her environment expects that of her. It’s the show business: it’s views, ratings, numbers, picking what sells, discarding what doesn’t. It’s worse when you know you tasted success before, now it’s scarier to fall from a mountain that’s too tall.
Although it’s true that women face this issue in its most direct way, men aren’t except from it either. The movie shows that as well through a male character. Feeling unhappy with your body spares no gender. I’ve been through similar feelings before where there’s self-consciousness about my body, and sometimes when I get compliments about my looks, they seem to convince everyone else but me. So the theme of the movie did indeed speak to me quite clearly.
It’s not all gloomy however, some scenes in the movie are funny at certain moments - and in a weird way, the movie makes you feel like it’s not reality, and that this is probably someone’s fantasy of an alternate possibility. There are superhero kicks and obvious plot holes. If there are any outright issues with the movie, this amount of absurdity masks it. An area that I felt could be improved is with some of the sleazy characters - they are one dimensional and are mostly there to comment on women’s bodies. Perhaps showing a touch of insecurity within themselves would have given a little more depth. The body horror aspect offers guts, chunks of limbs falling out, blood, pus and assorted subcutaneous insertions. The climax of the movie takes it to another level of insanity. It is very uncomfortable to watch, but if the concept seems interesting to you and you can stomach it, give it a go, and as the final frame of the starry skies fades out into black, what will remain with you are thoughts about what the fuck you just watched.