How the Hottest New Body Horror Flick Left Me Sobbing.

The Substance Movie Poster from the Cannes Film Festival

The Substance (showing now in theaters with a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes) leaves you with a lot to think about– well, at least if you are a woman–. Sitting through the movie in an audience of entirely just men, the plight of Elizabeth Sparkle and her “better half” (no, like literally.) seemed all too familiar. 

We see Demi Moore as Elizabeth Sparkle, a decorated aerobics star with her TV show, experiencing a fall from grace on her 50th birthday. A caricature of a studio executive named Harvey, who is mainly there for comedic effect, gives her the unceremonious boot. This happens on already a very uncomfortable day for her, sowing in the seeds of Sparkle’s insecurity centered around aging. Following an accident and trip to the hospital, Sparkle is slipped some information on a black market drug that specializes in cell replication. The result? “A better version of yourself”. This happens in the most literal sense, and things take a swift turn for the worst. 

Top-tier practical effects, combined with a score that keeps you on the edge of your seat at all the best moments, leave the audience with much to think about. The pacing (although a bit jarring at times) adds to the stress intended for the audience to feel. The tense atmosphere is balanced with some comic relief in a “funny because it’s true” way. But, there is so much to be said about the experience, and this is just the surface level. 

I see a little bit of every female figure in my life in Elizabeth Sparkle. A longing, or in this case, a desperation to maintain the suffocating beauty standards upheld by those who don't personally subscribe to them. (Go figure!) The lengths to which Sparkle will go to reclaim the stardom and attention that came with her youthful beauty are not terribly far-fetched when compared to the real, modern-day world and the lengths people will go. Putting their livelihood, and even their lives on the line for whatever is deemed “better” at the time. Why they chose to cast Demi Moore as someone to be viewed as “old” and “unwanted” is something I will never fully understand…Moore kills it–nonetheless– in what critics are calling the defining performance of her career.

But…that’s just the point, isn’t it?