The Substance is a body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. It follows a fading celebrity, Elisabeth Sparkle Demi Moore who, after being fired by her producer Dennis Quaid due to her age, uses a black market drug that creates a younger version of herself Margaret Qualley with unexpected side effects.
Noted for its satirical elements and grotesque , hyperrealistic imagery, The Substance is Fargeat's second feature film, after Revenge.
Motivated by societal pressures on women's bodies and aging , she wrote the screenplay over two years, assembling a team to co-produce the film between France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Principal photography in France lasted days. It made extensive use of prosthetic makeup designed by Pierre-Olivier Persin and primarily practical effects ; these included suits, puppetry , dummies, insert shots , and approximately 21, liters 5, US gallons of fake blood to portray Elisabeth's drug-induced transformation.
The film score was written by Raffertie and features a cover of " Pump It Up! It was a critical success and received numerous accolades , including five nominations each at the 97th Academy Awards including Best Picture and the 82nd Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. On her fiftieth birthday, Elisabeth Sparkle, a once-celebrated but now-faded Academy Award -winning Hollywood film star, is abruptly dismissed from her long-running aerobics TV show by Harvey, the program's producer, due to her age.
A distraught Elisabeth crashes her car while distracted by a billboard of herself being taken down. At the hospital, a young nurse covertly gives her a flash drive advertising "The Substance", a black market drug that promises a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of oneself.
