Written and Directed by Coralie Fargeat

A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that creates a younger, better version of herself. (IMDB)

Demi Moore is Elisabeth Sparkle, the archetypal ‘fading starlet’ who has likely made a lot of people at her network rich, but who has also been aged out of the industry by not being 30 anymore. She is unceremoniouly dumped by Harvey (Dennis Quaid) the not-so-subtly named, lecherous studio exec who eats shrimp as if the Cookie Monster lacked manners and ogles young girls while telling Elisabeth she is past it. All while wearing an unfading, shit-eating grin.

Caught up in a traffic accident on the way home from her firing, Elisabeth is approached by a mysterious medic who suggests she would be a ‘good candidate’ and slips a USB stick into her coat pocket. Intrigued, Elisbeth finds an advert for The Substance which promises her a brighter, younger version of herself. At first sceptical, she succumbs to the advert and contacts the company as events reinforce her alienation from the industry she loves.

After collecting a package from a well-hidden safety-deposit box in a very dodgy location, she injects herself with The Substance and, after what appears to be a bad reaction, Sue (Margaret Qualley) emerges from Elisabeth, reborn as the brighter, younger, better version of Elisabeth.

A bit like Gremlins, there are rules to this experiment; Elisabeth and Sue take turns being in control, each getting 7 days during which they need to feed the other (who is semi-conscious on the bathroom floor). Sue also has to extract fluid from Elisabeth’s spine and inject it to stabilise herself every day. The rules are strict, and the 7 days is non-negotiable. Taking any time over your allotted schedule affects the other one of you, and not in a good way.

YOU ARE ONE.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well, quite a lot.

After the initial honeymoon period where both Elisabeth and Sue see the benefits of The Substance, new leases of life and a new career, jealously soon creeps in as Elisabeth sees Sue getting the career she wanted and Sue gets greedy, not satisfied with just 7 days at a time. As each behaves in a way that causes problems for the other, a battle of wits ensues as Elisabeth considers whether or not to terminate the experiment and Sue fights for more and more time to stop her.

The Substance is a clear satire on Hollywood, the movie industry and the misogyny that fuels that industry. Elisabeth and Sue are victims of this in different ways, pushed to extremes to meet unrealistic standards and maintain their careers, all the time never being able to fully live up to the expectations of the old men running the show. When Elisabeth first goes to collect The Substance, part of you will be wondering why the hell she would even enter the building she is told to go to; it looks like a crack den. But this is a very clear indication of the lengths women are expected to go to in Hollywood to stay young and relevant.

With all this industry pressure, Sue goes to greater lengths to extend her 7 days and make sure her New Year’s Eve show a network highlight and career defining moment. But, by abusing the rules and being desperate to impress, things go from bad to worse and it will definitely be a show to remember.

The Substance moves from industry satire to gloopy, bloody body horror with ease. While the ending of the film can only really be described as “bat shit crazy” in a way that would give Lionel and his lawnmower a run for his money. It works perfectly for the film, driving home the overarching message around the pressures of Hollywood and the constant search for perfection. The brilliance in The Substance is summed up in a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ moment when Harvey tells Sue that “pretty girls should always smile” – an almost throwaway line, but one that will have every woman watching the movie seething with the pent up rage from years of being told to smile.

The performances from Moore and Qualley are top notch, portraying two sides of the same character with enough difference that the decisions each make are prefectly believable. Dennis Quaid channels his inner Harvey with relish and, when him eating shrimp is possibly one of the most stomach churning scenes in a film like this, you know these performances are not being phoned in.

It may have taken Coralie Fargeat a few years to follow up her impressive thriller Revenge, but it was worth the wait. Like The Substance, Revenge looks at the way men treat woman and the danger men pose to women. It’s worth a look if you haven’t seen it and enjoyed her work on The Substance.

Ultimately, The Substance might not be for everyone. It is a pretty gory body horror, that will give anyone who doesn’t like needles a serious does of “the ick.” It also goes way off the rails in the last act but it works really well and the great performances drive home the messages of the movie in a convicing fashion even if Sue’s ultimate fate is insane. The final images of the film are both ridiculous but dripping with deeper meaning and emotion.