'The Substance' is a vicious, visceral take on beauty, power, and erasure | Oscars 2025

Coralie Fargeat’s 'The Substance' is a visceral and unrelenting dive into the horrors of ageing in an industry obsessed with youth. It’s a film that doesn’t just dabble in body horror, it revels in it, using its grotesque transformations as a metaphor for the brutal, unforgiving nature of Hollywood. Led by an electrifying performance from Demi Moore, alongside Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid, 'The Substance' isn’t just a horror film, it’s a full-bodied scream against societal expectations.

Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, a former Hollywood star whose relevance is slipping through her fingers. In a desperate bid to reclaim her youth, she turns to an underground miracle solution known as 'The Substance', a product that promises a rebirth, literally. What emerges from this experiment is a younger, fresher version of Elisabeth (played by Qualley), radiant and full of life, while her original self is cast aside, expected to quietly fade away. But as with any Faustian bargain, the cost is far greater than she imagined.

What starts as an alluring fantasy quickly unravels into a nightmarish struggle for control, with Elisabeth and her younger counterpart locked in a terrifying battle for existence. Fargeat leans heavily into body horror, but never just for shock value. The film’s grotesque, flesh-twisting sequences are as much about the physical toll of reinvention as they are about the psychological agony of being deemed obsolete.

Demi Moore delivers a career-defining performance, embodying Elisabeth’s pain, desperation, and slow descent into madness with heartbreaking precision. She plays the role with a raw, lived-in intensity, making every moment of her suffering, rage, and fleeting hope feel devastatingly real. Margaret Qualley, as the seemingly perfect replacement, is equally haunting—her performance oscillates between innocence and eerie detachment, adding an unsettling edge to the film’s central conflict.

Fargeat’s direction is as sharp as ever, blending neon-lit glamour with grotesque horror to craft a world that feels both seductive and repulsive. The transformation sequences are visceral, each one escalating in intensity, ensuring the audience feels every crack, tear, and mutation in Elisabeth’s crumbling existence. The pulsating score only amplifies the unease, keeping the tension razor-sharp throughout.

Beyond its horror elements, 'The Substance' is a searing indictment of Hollywood’s relentless ageism and the impossible standards imposed on women. It doesn’t just highlight how female stars are discarded, it forces us to witness it, to feel the terror of irrelevance creeping in. The film lingers long after its final scene, not just for its shocking imagery, but for the truths it refuses to shy away from.