There are things about The Substance that I felt were incredibly powerful and moving but there were also things that felt so tired and cliched. The Substance is long and excessive, the latter being part of its aim and charm, not holding back, and extending to a logical, if horrific, conclusion. But in that lengthy runtime it slides around between being innovative and being redundant. It is spectacle for sure and aggressively provocative. It never pretends it is trying to be anything else. I appreciated its commitment to its take but I often felt its point was being undermined by its refusal to pull back and reflect.
First off lets talk about Moore who is incredible. If there is anything subtle about The Substance it's her performance even when the plot is pushing her into the grotesque. She holds it together and is bold, playing a desperate and difficult character with finesse and a raw power that reminds us of when she has been given the chance to show off her acting chops in the past.
Fargeat isn't interested in subtly the rest of the time. Her take is to go full on visually and narratively, never shying away from the fact she is making horror, body horror on the surface but existential horror at the same time. She connects the two genres well. This is a film satirizing beauty standards, so body horror is the perfect fit and a clever conceit. Where it lost it for me is in the film's inability to connect Moore and Qualley/Elizabeth and Sue. The film kept shoving the idea of "remember you are one" in our faces (and the faces of its characters/character) but kept fumbling that relationship. Did they share consciousness, memories, experiences? Did they disappear from each other while one was under? The film has contradictory moments relating to this in a way that pulls you from the film. If Elizabeth isn't experiencing being Sue than what is even the point? But if she is then why do both make the choices they do during their "times" as they sabotage each other/themselves so thoroughly.
Speaking of not subtle there is also the film's message. Nothing overly revolutionary here; we kill ourselves trying to be perfect. This is told in the very specifically female perspective and that is a reasonable take. Sure our culture still does encourage this so it remains relevant, yet as a modern fable it feels somewhat trite. I kept waiting for the film to find an angle on this that didn't feel rote but it never quite did. And as its monstrous ending approached... and kept going a la Return of the King... it became more and more... expected. The film turns to gross out humour/horror (two sides of the same coin) instead of coming up with a resolution. She destroys herself to keep herself beautiful. Sure the film points fingers at many external factors, but this is very much the story of Elizabeth/Sue/Monster and the film descends into parody of itself. When a nameless character stands up, points at her, and screams "monster" it feels like Plan 9 From Outer Space. I don't think this is on purpose.
The film gives itself permission to go off the deep end as it never really attempted to create a real world for itself to exist in. The process, the interactions between characters, the setting, never quite felt real. It is all a suspension of disbelief to achieve the story's goals. So the fact that it doesn't feel real at the end is no surprise. But I wonder if it would have had more pathos if it had found a way to make it seem like this could have happened instead of being an elaborate fable.
Still, I can't say you shouldn't see this film. It brings up so much to talk about and seeing Moore pull this off is incredible.
The Substance
Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid
Writer/Director: Coralie Fargeat
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