The Substance—How Demi Moore's Award Winning Movie Exposes Celebrity Scrutiny and Ageism

 

2024 witnessed the release of several horror movies with unique storytelling and actually scary moments.

But one horror movie broke through the mould and delivered one of the most grotesquely yet humorous stories that is now nominated for various awards.

THE SUBSTANCE is exemplary in every way. It manages to be horrifying, gross, humorous, but also thought-provoking.

The fact that Demi Moore, one of the leads of the movie, is winning awards, says it all. 

There is finally a movie about beauty and ageism that is connecting with audiences and being lauded for its message.

Demi Moore plays an ageing starlet who is let go from her aerobics show. The reason is her age. 

Desperate to stay in the spotlight, she resorts to injecting herself with a serum that is guaranteed to make a younger and more perfect version of the user.

Needless to say, rules are broken, jealous takes a toll, and the two "selves" end up sabotaging each other.

However, the two are actually one. And hence, they sabotage themselves by trying to outdo each other.

Being a celebrity is hard work, and enduring constant scrutiny must be intolerable. And if the celebrity is a woman, then she must constantly tolerate body-shaming remarks and fashion insults.

And if they are ageing, and an unflattering photo makes it online, then they are an instant target of trolls who, for some reason, expect a human being to defy wrinkles and body fat forever.

This is why a movie like The Substancs is important to show the effects of bullying a woman because she is getting older or putting on a little weight. 

Demi Moore's character Elisabeth may have tried to keep herself in shape as the host of an aerobics show, but her age has caused her muscles to loosen. She is immediately fired because she is old and the studio head wants her replaced by someone who is younger and pert.

Elisabeth begins to spiral following that. As a celebrity and a woman, she was expected to be beautiful and fit no matter what. 

Her being let go destroys her self-confidence. She no longer finds herself beautiful. She looks in the mirror and feels an inferior complex after comparing herself to her younger self. 

She begins to despise herself and is no longer capable of receiving love. 

Elisabeth could have gone on that date Fred from her high school. He was still besotted for her and would have cherished her despite her age. He complimented her beauty, which uplifts Elisabeth.

But one looks at the billboard of her younger self, and she loses her self-worth. 

No amount of makeup can make her as attractive or reverse her ageing. In the end, she decides to ghost Fred.

This is a vital scene in the movie because it shows just how low Elisabeth's self-esteem has fallen and how much the scathing remarks of her boss have affected her.

Her boss, Harvey, may be a loathsome man, but he's the head of the studio for a reason. He knows what works in the industry. 

Unintentionally, Elisabeth has put him on a pedestal where his opinions on her matter are a lot more than her personal worth.

The Substance then takes a turn from that point where Sue and Elisabeth start taking a bit extra time from each other, leading to Elisabeth suffering the side effects.

It's her. Sue is her younger self, but Elisabeth is now jealous of the attention she is receiving while big by bit. She is ageing even more until she ends up with a hunched back and haggard appearance.

The movie takes an even stranger turn.

Elisabeth tries to terminate Sue but then backs out before she injects her with half a serum. Sue wakes up, and the two fight.

Sue kills Elisabeth, but her victory is short-lived because she needs Elisabeth to survive.

Sue injects herself with the remaining serum, all because she wants to go to the New Year's Ball, which she is going to be a part of. She certainly doesn't want to miss the opportunity to wear a pretty dress and go to that event.

Sue turns into Monstro Elisasue who is far from human-looking. It's a blob of mass that is so unstable that it explodes. 

Yet, whatever is left of Eisabeth, drags herself to her Hollywood star.

Elisabeth has worked hard all her life to achieve that star, and even after being brutally removed from the industry because of her age, the one thing she truly desired was a place among the stars.

For Elisabeth, at least, her desire is fulfilled as she completely disintegrates while watching the stars in the sky.

The Substance is an important movie with a very strong message that hopefully, over the years to come, is not ignored. 

People age, people wear clothes they like, and people sometimes gain or lose weight.

It's time we treat celebrities like people and not objects that need to follow an idea of what beauty actually is.