Cut off its head and two shall grow back in its place…
The Substance perfectly encapsulates, both literally and figuratively, the hydra effect. Actions taken to reduce a problem can oftentimes have counter-intuitive effects which cause the problem to worsen.
In the movie, Demi Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a celebrity in the midst of being cast aside by her producer due to her age, even though her beauty has not yet faded.
Elisabeth is offered a dose of ‘the Substance’, a black market drug that promises its user a ‘younger, more beautiful, more perfect’ version of themselves.
Desperate to cling on to her youth, fame and fortune, she injects herself with ‘the Substance’ and as she convulses on the ground, a younger version of her, played by Margaret Qualley, emerges from a slit all the way down her back.
The one rule of ‘the Substance’ use is that both entities must ‘respect the balance’ and each will lead separate lives seven days on, seven days off.
Was the balance ever going to be respected by two fame-hungry women striving for power and attention? Absolutely not; and it results in disaster.
As you can imagine, The Substance is not for the faint of heart. First and foremost it’s a body horror film, and I’m not ashamed to admit that there were scenes I had to semi-watch behind my hands, teeth gritted.
At the heart of it, however, is a cautionary tale of how easy it is to cast aside and replace celebrities, particularly in La La Land. Just because you’ve built an empire for yourself doesn’t mean it won’t come crashing down at the snap of a finger.
Demi has received well-deserved praise for her role in The Substance. In particular, her powerful makeup removal scene has gotten both audiences and critics talking.
After becoming envious of her younger, ‘better’ self, Elisabeth opts to go on a date with someone whom she knows will heap the praise on her.
Jealousy takes over and a distressed Elisabeth vigorously smears makeup across her face and nearly pulls out her hair in a ‘Look at yourself, what were you thinking?’ moment.
As the film goes on and the women get more brutal in their retaliation to each other, things escalate quickly and it leads to total body horror chaos that results in the pair merged together.
Deemed a ‘monster’, one man savagely chops its head clean off but it has an adverse effect and instead their blended being becomes even more deformed.
In an incredibly poetic, full-circle moment, Elisabeth’s final form makes its way to her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is so disillusioned, believing she’s once again having her moment in the limelight.
The being dissolves, resulting in a mess on the Walk of Fame star. Elisabeth sullied her own fame.
If Demi Moore does not win the Oscar for Best Actress, the Academy needs to take a step back and take a long, hard look at itself.
