Demi Moore's body horror hit The Substance has flipped one of Hollywood's most pervasive and controversial genres. Moore plays Elisabeth, an aging actress turned fitness star fired from her show by her executive, who wants a younger host. Elisabeth soon learns of a mysterious Hollywood secret known as The Substance, which lets her swap her body for a younger one for seven days at a time. However, her younger body wants to stay for longer. While none of the characters in The Substance are heroic, Elisabeth's struggles are relatable, even as the Substance turns her into a literal monster.
The Substance is both gory and tragic, and Demi Moore's performance has already been praised by critics. The Substance's approach to the "vain woman" archetype has also drawn positive attention. While the struggle of women like Elisabeth has been portrayed onscreen for decades, the movies have often focused on the character's vanity rather than her humanity. The Substance is about ageism but offers a deeper dive than many earlier movies that feature aging women as a central plot point. These have often been so controversial that they have become a genre on their own.
Demi Moore's The Substance Has A Controversial Genre
The Substance Takes A Deep Dive Into An Unfairly Represented Character Type
The Substance focuses on a formerly glamorous woman's desperation to avoid aging, and characters like this have existed for decades - even centuries. This controversial genre, which presents women's aging as particularly scary or funny, is known as "hagsploitation." The Evil Queen in Snow White is one of the earliest examples, straddling the thin line between fairytale and horror. Movies like What Ever Happened to Baby Jane and X cast vain, aging women as villains, while comedies like Death Becomes Her make them appear ridiculous. However, The Substance makes Elisabeth a sympathetic and heartbreaking character, and looks deeper into hagsploitation.
The Substance
received a 13-minute standing ovation when it premiered at Cannes.
While some reviews have criticized The Substance for being a hagsploitation movie due to its subject matter alone, The Substance is more of a social commentary with body horror. Hagsploitation tends to present women's fear of aging as pure vanity, while The Substance shows the reasons why a person might take desperate measures to avoid it. Elisabeth loses her job due to her age and regularly endures misogyny, ageism, and objectification. This is a relatable experience for many women, which may explain why The Substance's reviews are so good and the movie has a 90% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
The Substance Making The Beauty Industry & Hollywood The Villain Is A Smart Change
Elisabeth may have embraced aging if not for the fact that aging resulted in her losing her livelihood and self-esteem. This happens to many women, but Hollywood actresses experience an added layer of tabloid scrutiny. By understanding this and representing Elisabeth's internal struggle, The Substance made Hollywood and the beauty industry the true villains. This was a smart move, as it provides an accurate insight into why characters like Elisabeth are desperate to stay young. While The Substance ends tragically, Elisabeth and her alter ego get one moment of defiance first, as she attends a ball in her monstrous form.
The Substance has an explosively ambitious ending, but there are some questions that the film leaves surprisingly open-ended when the credits roll.
The Substance's disgusting shrimp scene is the perfect visual metaphor for the movie's genre flip. Elisabeth meets her rude and misogynistic executive, Harvey, played by Dennis Quaid, for lunch. Harvey messily eats shrimp while firing the weight-conscious Elisabeth, who is eating nothing. This scene has none of The Substance's signature body horror but is an excellent representation of the way Elisabeth must appear young and beautiful at all times, while Harvey can get away with his revolting table manners. Moments like this make The Substance a disturbingly memorable social commentary, and so much more than cheap hagsploitation.
Director Coralie Fargeat
Release Date September 20, 2024
Studio(s) Working Title Films , A Good Story
Writers Coralie Fargeat
Cast Demi Moore , Margaret Qualley , Dennis Quaid , Gore Abrams , Hugo Diego Garcia , Olivier Raynal , Tiffany Hofstetter , Tom Morton , Jiselle Burkhalter , Axel Baille , Oscar Lesage , Matthew Géczy , Philip Schurer
English (US) ·