'The Substance', which won the Best Screenplay award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, was released in Russian theaters on September 19. In our article, we discuss the nature of fear in this film and the role that seems likely to bring Demi Moore at...

On her birthday, former movie star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) receives some bad news — the producer of her fitness TV show has decided to replace her. Now they are looking for a sexy woman under thirty for the role, and Elisabeth can only pack her things and make way for younger candidates. Worried about her age and the effective end of her career, she doesn't notice another car crashing into hers on the way home, and the rest of her 'celebratory' day is spent in the hospital. There, a too-young doctor gives her a flash drive containing information about an experimental drug called 'The Substance' that could help Elisabeth.

Instructions for using 'The Substance' are included, as is a lifetime subscription to maintain the two bodies for the rest of their existence. With the appearance of Sue (Margaret Qualley), the life of Demi Moore's character ceases to belong solely to one body — week by week, that's the schedule for exploiting young skin. The birth of a new version of oneself is incredibly painful, though instead of a standard C-section, the incision runs along the spine, ejecting the being into the world.

The body horror genre or its elements appear whenever human corporeality plays a role in distinguishing one organism from another ('The Thing', 'Alien', 'Hellraiser', countless zombie films, etc.), or exposes our species' tendency toward perverse violence ('The Human Centipede', 'Tusk', 'Martyrs', 'Audition', etc.). Director of 'The Substance' Coralie Fargeat tries to balance somewhere in between, adding a female perspective on both her body and existential questions. From the stereotypical Barbie with complexes from Greta Gerwig's film and the heroines of Frenchwoman Julia Ducournau, who uses body horror in the 2021 Cannes winner 'Titane' or the cannibal drama 'Raw', Fargeat takes the most vivid images and metaphors, mixing them with favorite genre action films, Cronenberg's movies, and her own fears of aging. The serum turns out to be very successful.

Hoping for help from 'The Substance', Elisabeth Sparkle wants to get rid not so much of aging as of the feeling of being unwanted and forgotten by everyone. She no longer attracts attention; her image and hosting style are rather associated with old-fashioned eighties. Complexes about age, weight, body elasticity, perfect facial skin and hair are exacerbated by her star status and constant criticism from the producer.

Dennis Quaid, who replaced the late Ray Liotta (who died in 2022), embodies evil itself, as his name — Harvey — eloquently suggests. The male characters in 'The Substance' cannot boast high empathy and respectfulness, but Harvey with his clanking metal heels, wide dirty smile, and caustic suits is simply disgusting. He doesn't do anything that Weinstein did, doesn't cause physical harm, and even accommodates subordinates and colleagues, yet the threat and internal discomfort from being near him is felt through the screen.

After injecting herself with 'The Substance', the life of Demi Moore's character is divided into two parts: a week of the 'mother' body spent near the TV or overeating, while the young copy Sue takes over all social and professional life. The newly minted fitness show host now works not on quasi-health content with strengthening exercises, but on explicit dances with minimal clothing and maximum close-ups. Elisabeth's dreams came true — but she felt no relief; on the contrary, she worsened her mental and physical state beyond recognition. In attempts to escape herself, the real personality begins to blur, getting lost in the illusions of Sue's successful life — the balance between them is disrupted.

What Coralie Fargeat does with the bodies of Elisabeth and Sue is horrifying, because somewhere on the edge of realism and fantasy, they change depending on the actions of both parts. If one wants to prolong her stay, the other has to pay for this luxury. There is logic in this, and it is understandable. However, how the consciousnesses of the girls are connected remains a mystery, as do details about the corporation supplying the substance to desperate volunteers.

The perfect balance that Elisabeth unfortunately failed to maintain was achieved in the creation of 'The Substance'. The visuality of the images, their recognizability achieved through precise sound design, along with the electronic soundtrack and insane plot twists, give the film enormous charisma. Without a conscious approach to writing explicit scenes and shaping the story itself, Coralie Fargeat would hardly have been able to even screen her film at Cannes. 'The Substance' can be called an adult hyperbolized fairy tale about Cinderella in the twenty-first century, where Demi Moore played a brilliant, tragic lead role. Alas, the fairy godmother, giving a new 'dress', does not save her but condemns her to a short existence in the hands of an evil stepmother with metal heels and others eager for unfortunate Cinderellas.

Trailer for the film 'The Substance':