‘The Substance’ suffers from one fatal and hypocritical flaw in the form of its leading lady, Demi Moore.
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“The Substance,” a new award-winning film about an over-the-hill celebrity desperate to recapture her youthful appearance and the attention and validation that come with it, immediately caught my attention. Unfortunately, the movie’s whole premise suffers from one fatal and hypocritical flaw in the form of its leading actress, Demi Moore.
“The Substance” is a “body horror film,” a horror subgenre that depicts the grotesque transformation of the human body. Demi Moore plays leading lady Elizabeth Sparkle, a former Hollywood star-turned-fitness guru who is being cast aside by her network for being too old. She accepts a mysterious syringe from a stranger, which she is told will recapture her younger self along with all its fame and adulation. She accepts, and thus “Sue,” her younger alter ego, is born. They are meant to alternate every other week in the world, and the one on her “down week,” i.e. not in the world, lies motionless on the bathroom floor awaiting her turn.
