The Substance (2024): Disturbing and disgusting -- but most of all brilliant

The Substance, 2024, directed by Coralie Fargeat, Mubi blu-ray (2025), 4.5 stars.

I spent the first half of this movie nearly hyperventilating, covering my eyes and gasping for breath, trying to decide if I was loving it or hating it. I spent the last half nearly hyperventilating, squirming and cursing out loud at the screen, completely overtaken by this brilliant piece of filmmaking.

Part of what was going on is that I am not, never have been, a fan of body horror. That stuff always gives me the heebie-jeebies. I have never been able to rewatch The Fly, the David Cronenberg masterpiece. Don't even talk to me about stuff like Saw and The Human Centipede. I have no interest. Hell, I remember freaking out for a few seconds in every episode back when I binge-watched Nip/Tuck.

But The Substance I was kind of forced into. I got caught up in the buzz last fall about Demi Moore winning all those awards and about how this little horror film was making noises about Oscar nominations. I jumped on it when the blu-ray came up for preorder in December for about $16. It was only after I got my hands on it that I learned it was a pretty intense body horror movie. And I put the disc on my shelf in no hurry to have a look. I was not looking forward to seeing it, but I decided to go ahead and dive in now before the Oscars this weekend.

And holy crap was I nervous and grossed out and completely blown away by the time this movie was over.

I'm convinced. The Substance definitely is Oscar material. It is an excellent movie. And Demi no question deserves a best-actress nod. She's onscreen for maybe half of the movie's 141-minute runtime, sharing lead duties with Margaret Qualley, who is excellent. But Demi, her performance here is freaking stunning. She does get help as the movie progresses with some brilliant makeup effects, no doubt. But she throws everything she has into this role, and I am thrilled that the people who give out these awards are recognizing her for it. Kudos.

I have not seen most of the movies in the Oscar hunt, I will pick off a few of them eventually, I am sure. But I would love it if The Substance picks off one or two of the big ones.

 

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