The Substance is a Body Horror Triumph with Incredible Practical Effects
The Substance follows the story of a woman named Elisabeth Sparkle, who is now turning 50 years old. She appears to be living her best life. She is a fitness instructor for a TV show, she is beautiful and rich.
Then her boss decides to kick her out of the studio, for a younger woman that will take the place of Elisabeth. Obviously distraught and angry, she begins to experience a moment of midlife crisis.
She ends up getting into a car accident during her dilemma, and she is taken to the hospital. Even though she learns that she did not sustain any form of injury, she has a breakdown after everything that she endured.
Then a random nurse gives her something known as The Substance, and writes a note that simply says:
“It changed my life.”
After Elisabeth learns about this strange product, she decides to use The Substance…and is given a better version of herself.
Elisabeth wakes up in a new body of a younger woman.
This part freaked me out. I physically cringed when Elisabeth’s back literally SPLIT OPEN, and out popped a younger body that she decides to name herself as Sue.
Sue is given instructions on how to take care of her old body, because she must go back every seven days between each body, in order for a proper balance between both versions of herself.
Sue follows the instructions, and decides what she wants to do with her new self. She decides to take the place of Elisabeth Sparkle, and becomes the new TV host for fitness, gaining a massive amount of popularity.
Then after seven days, she has to go back.
Unfortunately…Elisabeth isn’t exactly happy in her old self.
Elisabeth begins to experience a struggle with wanting to go back to her new younger body.
I immediately knew this was going to happen once Elisabeth began to use The Substance. When she is in Sue’s body, she has it all.
She is young and beautiful.
She captures the attention of many men.
She has a career in what she loves to do.
She is a TV star.
Obviously, Elisabeth was going to give in to her younger self. She decides to go against the rules, and stays longer in her new body.
Drastic consequences begin to occur, and Elisabeth’s body undergoes a horrible change.
She is slowly becoming older faster, and gets incredibly jealous of her new self, believing that they are no longer the same person. Elisabeth is so far gone by this point in the film, and decides to make a terrible decision.
She goes against the rules permanently, and stays in her new body…for good.
Elisabeth stays in her new body for 3 months, and goes through a battle royale with both versions of herself.
Sue is now super popular, living her best life. Then her life gets interrupted when she realizes that her old body can no longer support her new self. She is forced to go back into her new body, to sustain her life.
Sue ended up completely ruining her old body as Elisabeth, and she is now an old lady who is struggling to even walk. She is now sick and tired of Sue, and decides to quit using The Substance.
She is told to kill her new body, but she quickly gives in to wanting to become her new self again. Her mistake leads to Sue waking up, and now both Elisabeth and Sue battle to the death.
Sue wins and continues on with living her TV star dream…then she instantly regrets her decision…and what happens next…is a horror fan’s dream.
Sue and Elisabeth both combine into one person, creating an actual monster.
Credit to How ‘The Substance’ Turned Demi Moore Into a Movie Monster
Since Elisabeth’s old self is now dead, Sue’s new body begins to fall apart. Sue panics, and runs back to her apartment to inject herself with The Substance. And…she changes…into something else.
Elisabeth wakes up in the body of a monster version of Sue and Elisabeth combined. The body horror is out of this world and is freaking terrifying. I was in utter shock with how great the transformation looked.
I haven’t seen body horror this good since John Carpenter’s The Thing.
It was horrific, and beautiful at the same time.
The last moment of this film leads to a fantastic gore fest with a shitload of blood and incredible use of body horror. The ending is absolutely wild, and I remained in shock until the film ended.
Like damn…what the hell did I just watch tonight?
The main message of the film…is quite simple, but sad.
If you just accept yourself, you will be happy. Poor Elisabeth couldn’t accept herself, and she became a literal mess. She was too obsessed with living her dream of being loved and accepted, that led to her downfall.
This film was definitely the perfect horror film for how beauty truly does affect people in Hollywood. It’s a sad reality, and can be quite scary.
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