In Hollywood, everyone is obsessed with what’s new and shiny. It can be hard reinventing yourself over and over again just to convince people you still matter.
Maybe that’s why the 2024 body horror film The Substance hit me too hard.
The movie explores themes of aging, beauty standards, and the dark side of wanting a “better” version of yourself.
It was written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. The film features extensive use of practical effects and prosthetic makeup to create disturbing visuals that will stick with you long after it fades out.
Today, I wanted to go over the film’s controversial ending and talk about what it all means.
Let’s dive in.
The Substance Plot
We open the movie looking at the Hollywood Walk of Fame star of Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a fading actress who is fired from her aerobics show by her agent (Dennis Quaid) due to her age.
No matter what Elizabeth does, she knows her career is going to be over because she’s aged out of it. It drives her kind of mad.
Desperate to regain her youth and relevance in Hollywood’s eyes, she turns to a black market drug called “The Substance.”
The drug promises you’ll become a younger, more perfect version of yourself.
Elizabeth orders it and it comes in a pristine package — it’s a giant syringe with green goo inside. Once she takes it the body of a woman in her twenties emerges from a slit in her back.
That woman is Sue (Margaret Qualley), whom everyone seems to obsess over and love.
However, there’s a catch: Sue and Elizabeth must switch back after a week, with Sue climbing back into Elizabeth’s back.
While out in the world, Sue quickly becomes a sensation, taking over Elizabeth’s workout job and getting a billboard and all the male attention Elizabeth hasn’t gotten in a while.
When Elizabeth is out in the world, she’s mostly ignored and gets sad. This drives her to not take care of her body so that when Sue comes back out she has some issues.
Sue then becomes increasingly rebellious, refusing to adhere to the switching schedule because she wants to stay out longer, and abusing the stabilizer fluid that prevents rapid aging and keeps Elizabeth alive.
Now, when they switch back, Elisabeth’s original body begins to deteriorate, turning her into an extremely old woman, who is falling apart, literally.
Eventually, Sue stays out for a long time and causes irreversible damage to Elizabeth. But Sue books a New Year’s Eve Show, which is massive.
But New Year’s Eve is Elizabeth’s time to be out. So Sue extracts a large amount of serum from Elisabeth, further compounding the damage and adding a contaminated part of the substance to herself.
Now, Sue’s body begins to fail on New Year’s Eve. She’s desperate because she has to get on TV, so she uses the last of the substance to double down and tries to make a newer, younger version of herself.
But this backfires and a monstrous amalgamation of Elisabeth and Sue – a creature known as Elisasue – comes out of her.
Now, we have the physical manifestation of abusing the substance. Despite her appearance, Elisasue takes to the stage to host the New Year’s Eve show.
People in the audience have no idea how to react but begin to scream and go nuts. In this moment, Elisasue’s body then begins to literally fall apart on stage. It’s pretty gross.
Elisasue escapes the studio and collapses on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, near Elisabeth’s original star.
In the final moments, Elisabeth’s face detaches from the monstrous form, crawls towards her star, and melts into the pavement. Then she’s scrubbed away by a street sweeper. The end.
The Ending of The Substance Explained
So, what does all this stuff really mean?
Well, the whole movie is a critique of how Hollywood views women and their bodies. Everything is superficial and plays with identity. It also plays into becoming obsessed with youth and not loving or taking care of yourself while you age.
This is a movie that wants you to leave with a sense of unease.
We want movie stars to be hot and be part of the spectacle, so even while watching this movie, the audience is confronted with the problems we have. It’s safe to assume many people in the actual audience were there because of the sexiness of the trailers, and now, like the audience in the movie, have to be confronted with exploitative knowledge.
When the monster dies on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, among the stars, we realize this is just one of many stories of people Hollywood has cast aside over the years, perpetuating these problems that never seem to go away.
As the monster slides toward its final resting place, this can be interpreted as a symbolic return to her former identity, a final release from the physical form that caused her so much pain.
Summing Up The Ending of The Substance Explained
That’s just my two cents on the movie, I’d love to hear what you think. I enjoyed, and gagged, at every minute of this film and thought it took us on a wild ride that wound up having a lot to say,
Let me know what you think in the comments.
Author: Jason Hellerman
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
