Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a successful actress turned exercise show host with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On the day of her 50th birthday, her manager (Harvey, played by Dennis Quaid) congratulates her and fires her from her own show. He wants someone younger and with more “sparkle.”
Elisabeth is furious, not yet ready to leave fame behind, and violently crashes her car while staring at her billboard being ripped away. In the hospital, a young nurse gives her a black flash drive hidden in a piece of paper noting that it changed his life. The drug, known as “The Substance” promises a better version of Elisabeth. It works by taking the patient’s DNA and cloning them to fulfill this promise, but notes that the patient and the clone are one. Every week the clone and the original must switch, otherwise there could be consequences. Elisabeth is hesitant at first, but gives in once she sees an advertisement in the newspaper looking for the next Elisabeth Sparkle.
The transformation scene is violent and serves as a reminder of the beauty standards women must uphold to maintain their youthful appearance. The stabilizer fluid is the final part of the transformation and must be inserted into the resting self each day to avoid implosion. Margaret Qualley plays the clone, a younger version of Elisabeth Sparkle. While Sue could live whatever life she desires outside of Hollywood, she wants validation and achieves this by auditioning as the replacement.
Sue becomes popular within and outside of her tight-knit circle. She also alludes to Elisabeth by ending her show the same way Elisabeth did. The night before she is supposed to switch back into her other body, Sue decides she wants more time to have fun, and injects more stabilizer fluid to give her time.
The next morning she wakes up as Elisabeth, and the consequences of the late switch show up immediately. Elisabeth’s hand looks like it aged many decades. She contacts the supplier because “The Substance” is not working properly, but he reminds her that her rapid aging is a result of switching late and that she and Sue are one.
On her off week (when Elisabeth is in control), she is miserable and reveals her jealousy towards Sue since she has everything Elisabeth does not have. Elisabeth and Sue no longer see themselves as one individual, and instead they believe they are separate entities. Sue resents Elisabeth because when it is her turn to be in control, she is lazy and stays miserable. Elisabeth resents Sue because she is making her older since she does not want to switch on time.
Sue becomes extremely upset seeing Elisabeth deteriorate, and decides to take control. She extracts enough stabilizer fluid to keep Elisabeth alive for three months while Sue lives her best life. She even gains the opportunity to host a New Years Eve special, the biggest show of the year. The day before the special, she runs out of the stabilizer fluid and contacts the supplier in distress, reminding her that the only way to fix the issue is to return to her original body. When she returns to her body she has massive bone and skin growth and she has aged many more decades. Elisabeth is done with Sue and orders a termination serum to end the experiment.
When she is about to inject Sue, she remembers all the amazing experiences she had as Sue and can not force herself to finish the termination process. Without Sue, Elisabeth believes she is nothing. Elisabeth tries to resuscitate Sue and tries to switch but a glitch happens. Both Sue and Elisabeth are conscious at the same time, and Sue attacks and kills Elisabeth when she realizes what Elisabeth was trying to accomplish
Sue attempts to return to the New Years Eve show, but the consequences of her actions begin to haunt her. Sue’s teeth and ear fall out, yet nobody notices what is going on around them. The only logical solution in her mind is to inject herself with the cloning serum, despite the warnings to only use it once. The result of this cloning is Monstro Elisasue, a disfigured monster comparable to a melted candle. This does not prevent her from appearing on the New Year’s Eve special, and audience members begin attacking the monster.
Elisasue runs outside, explodes, and the face of Elisabeth moves toward her star on the walk of fame, where she melts and is scrubbed off the next day.
The film serves as a commentary on female beauty standards, specifically in Hollywood. Elisabeth is still beautiful when she is fired from her show, yet she believes she has to fit a certain narrative to be “loved by all”. It is also important to note that Elisabeth has nobody to return to at home. She does not have a lover, pet, or even family members. Hollywood and fame are all she has, which is why she desperately wants her life back. Elisabeth believes the only way to obtain this is by being young again, and she achieves this through Sue. At first, Elisabeth and Sue believe they are one. As the movie progresses, this connection becomes distant. Sue begins taking more control by continuously overstaying her welcome, causing serious side effects for Elisabeth (such as wrinkled skin). This is also a symbol of how our younger selves tend to live in the present instead of caring about how it will affect our older selves.
Harvey symbolizes all individuals (and the industry) who believe women are useless once they are past their “prime.” Elisabeth worked under him for many years, yet he did not appreciate her value. Instead, he glorified the youthful nature of Sue who he had only known for a small amount of time. Harvey is also a symbol about how older men are treated differently than older women. He was likely older than Elisabeth and he was able to retain his powerful position. One scene that stood out was when we got a first person view of him disgustingly stuffing his face with shrimp. He was indulging himself in luxury and enjoying the moment while he was giving Elisabeth the worst news of her life. This further demonstrates that he did not care what happened to Elisabeth after she was fired.
The Substance is a powerful reminder about age discrimination in both Hollywood and within our personal lives. The large quantity of “shocking” scenes serve to amplify anxieties about how society devalues people (especially women) as they age, forcing them to try to achieve unreal expectations through whatever means necessary.