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“Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect.” ... Well, Coralie Fargeat’s highly anticipated body horror, ‘The Substance’, answers this question in a gruesome, yet thought-provoking way that explores the painful limits women undergo to achieve societal expectations of beauty.
The film centers around TV fitness star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), whose once blossoming Hollywood career falls apart after producers seek someone younger and more attractive to replace her. In a desperate plea to hold on to her career, Elisabeth takes ‘THE SUBSTANCE’ - an injection that gives birth to a younger clone version of herself called Sue (Margaret Qualley) whom she must share her life with, switching bodies every seven days. Given a new chance at youth, Sue (clone self) auditions to replace Elisabeth Sparkle and sets out to begin her career in her transformed body. Yet, this suspicious substance comes with a set of very strict rules, which are inevitably abused as Sue begins to occupy more and more time, resulting in the deterioration of Elisabeth's body and health. I won’t spoil the ending, but you should be aware that there is a lot of gore towards the end. If you're squeamish I would stay clear!
However, as someone who is not usually fond of the horror genre, I was still able to enjoy this brutal story mostly because the message behind it was so powerful. Women are so often torn apart by the world for their looks, their age, their talent, their beauty that they will go to extreme lengths to conform to societal beauty standards. By using
such grotesque body horror, the film emphasises the dark consequences of this conformity and highlights why society needs to change the way it treats women. As the saying goes ‘beauty is pain’, but should beauty really come at such a damaging cost?
In recent years, there has been an increased presence of body-altering products and treatments in the beauty market whether it be lip filler, liposuction, BBLs or the so called ‘ozempic epidemic’. Yet, knowing that these products can be potentially dangerous, women continue to use them. Why? Well, as the film shows, the patriarchal world
frequently treats women as objects of desire to men, who are only valued when they are young and beautiful. We see this presented in Elisabeth’s character. She no longer sees purpose and worth to her life now she has aged and lost her desirability.
Furthermore, in the film we see Sue continuously abuse the substance knowing it will damage and destroy Elisabeth. We see this within society where women criticize and abuse their bodies in their youth, not caring about the physical and mental impacts that it will have upon their future self. Ironically Elisabeth and Sue’s iconic catchphrase on
their fitness show was ‘and in the meantime take care of yourself’, yet they incessantly abuse and destroy themselves. This seemingly mirrors how the beauty industry showcases a multitude of self-care and self-love content whilst also promoting unattainable beauty standards that tear women apart. It's easy to tell other women to take care of themselves, but to take care of your own body can be a much harder battle.
After watching this film, I began to reflect upon the way that I treat my own body and how I should look after it. As the film states there is ‘no going back’ once the damage has been done. Reconsidering this outlook on self-worth has made me appreciate my body and youth, even if society tells me otherwise. Fargeat's fiercely critical message
makes clear that female beauty should not be self-destructive. She urges society to wake up and change the way it values women before it's too late.
Words and Images by Eliza Green (she/her)
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