Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

The Substance 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"Pretty girls should always smile!"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown January 18, 2025

The Substance and I are on quite the journey together. When I first saw it in theaters, I hated it. And I don't mean I didn't enjoy it. Hatred, pure and unadulterated. It was loud, garish, too on the nose, too desperate for my praise, too repetitive, too bizarre, too many plot contrivances and plot holes... you name it, from the minute Denis Quaid was gum-chewing shrimp in extreme closeup to the final face-slinking drain-out, I was decidedly not in love. But a funny thing happened on my way from the theater to home video. I still came away from the film with problems, but this time I was prepared and, wouldn't you know it, things not only didn't bother me the way they first had, they started to... work? And work well? What a conundrum. Currently The Substance is one of the few films with which I seem to have been sent on a slingshot around the sun. Maybe, just maybe, by the time the Oscars roll around, I might finally begin to appreciate it at the level so many others do. It's growing on me, limb by limb, rotting finger by rotting finger.

An international co-production between France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, Coralie Fargeat's The Substance tells the often nauseating story of fading Hollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), who in true Fonda fashion has become better known to a new generation in Hollywood for her dated exercise-video empire than her impressive body of film work. By happenstance, she overhears her producer, Harvey (Denis Quaid, playing the hell out of a Weinstein parody), is planning to fire her and find someone fresher and younger. Distraught, she leaves the studio and lands herself in the hospital after a vicious car accident. There she meets a young nurse who gives her a thumb drive touting "The Substance," a product that promises miraculous youthfulness exclusively to those who receive a secret invitation, as she has.

She hesitates but then relents, placing an order for her first shipment... which she has to fetch from a strange, abandoned warehouse. It's at this point it begins to become clear (at least on second viewing) that we've been dropped squarely in the middle of a dark and twisted Hollywood fairy tale. The instructions are simple: inject the single-use activator serum, live seven days as a younger version of oneself, take daily stabilizer injections, then, without going a minute over, inject the next week's serum to shift back into your older self. Warnings about going over the allotted time are stressed, and ignoring the rules promises to lead to consequences.

But Elisabeth doesn't become younger. A young version of her body violently rips its way out of her spinal column, leaving the still-breathing husk of her older body catatonic and in-need of routine care. Or hiding as young Elisabeth (Margaret Qualley) discovers is necessary if she wants to have anyone back to her apartment. Renaming her younger self Sue, she quickly gets a job from Harvey hosting the new and improved aerobics sensation he had imagined, a sexier version of the show and exercise empire her Elisabeth had built. It's here that Sue and Elisabeth essentially become two separate characters. Elisabeth, hoping to use Sue to achieve her dreams; Sue growing resentful at the idea of having to be old for seven days and pushing back against Elisabeth's wishes. Before you can say "inevitable," Sue breaks the rules and takes extra time for her own week, going over her allotted dose of "The Substance." The consequence? For each day she pushes past seven, a portion of Elisabeth's body hyper-ages, becoming inhumanly decrepit. So begins a war between Elisabeth and Sue for control of the same increasingly divided consciousness, despite having two different bodies and two very different ideas as to how their arrangement should work.

I don't think I've ever seen a more sexualized asexual movie than The Substance, but then again, that may very well be the point. Sex sells but does it? Or does skin sell? Youth? Health? Virility? These are the commerce of Fargeat's fickle fable, with love hardly more than a transaction between consumer and the consumed. Elisabeth is caught between these two worlds, fending for her future but also well aware of the futility of doing so. Hers is more a conflict of denial than despair, and the emergence of such a self-centered Sue isn't remotely a surprise. The fact that the two battle each other from afar, though, is and is perhaps The Substance's greatest strength, as it ceases to allow time to pass and instead makes it feel as if both Sue and Elisabeth are engaged in a battle occurring for both of them in the moment. Just how far out of bounds Sue pushes things is infuriating, until that is you remember this is just a younger version of the same mind. The selfishness, arrogance and unempathetic decisions are simply self-destructive, not some abuse that can be held against an abuser. Elisabeth is creating her own nightmare, her own downfall her own death by vanity.

But just when you think The Substance is finished and a black syringe is injected, the movie shrugs off expectation and plows ahead for another full act; one that's so off the wall, so bonkers, so disgusting and utterly unhinged that you can only shake your head, grin and watch the chaos spray all over the screen. (Sometimes literally.) It's not creeping, unsettling body horror. It's an in-your-face shitshow of blood and guts so vile that it could only be the escalation of a film that starts so aggressively loud and ugly and builds, scene after scene, until there's nowhere left to plummet except into the bowels of hell. Hollywood hell, to be precise. Moore and Qualley deliver exceptional performances the whole way down -- Moore as a slowly unraveling crone bent on her own defeat, Qualley as a sneering, sinister waif determined to steal every ounce of life from herself -- and do so without taking much of a breath. The intensity continually heightens and the duo match it inch for inch, step for step. Regardless of whether you come away hailing the movie as brilliant or struggle with it as I initially did, it's hard to deny the power of its actresses' performances and the deft touch with which Fargeat controls what seems to be so uncontrolled.

The Substance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Skin is the name of the game in The Substance and, with it, MUBI continues to prove its commitment to top quality 4K releases. Presented in native 2160p with gorgeous Dolby Vision color expansion, the film looks every bit as striking as it did in theaters. Saturation borders on overdone on occasion, with sun-blasted flesh tones, but is only remaining faithful to the original photography and the director's intentions at every turn. Beauty is presented with hyper-realistic oranges, pinks and fuschias, madness with clinical whites and splashes of vivid yellow and green, and the culmination of Elisabeth's healthcare regiment with garish reds and blues. It's a cavalcade of tones, handled masterfully and without incident by MUBI's 4K presentation. Moreover, crushing -- black, red or otherwise -- is nowhere to be found, and banding, blocking and the like are absent as well. Detail is exquisitely reproduced to the most minute pore, hair follicle or wrinkle. Edges are crisp and clean, without anything that suggests artificiality, and fine textures are exceedingly refined. Closeups of skin offer a multitude of subtleties, some of which make gruesome sequences that much more revolting and stomach-churning. It's still early obviously, but I strongly suspect this will continue to be a transfer people point back to as one of the best of the year.

The Substance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I mentioned just how loud and aggressive The Substance can be, and its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track doesn't disappoint in that regard. From the opening minutes there is a growing ferocity lurking within the film's soundscape; one that only gains in intensity and volume as the story barrels along. LFE output is brash and assertive, making its presence known at every turn whether by way of the score or the thick, meaty chewing, tearing, rending or squelching that requires weight and heft. The rear speakers are also teeming with activity. Crowded hallways, blaring music, desperate fights to the death, gory beatings and blood spatter... exercise videos? Yep, it's all here and all spread throughout the soundfield with immersive and enveloping attention to detail. Directionality is precise, pans are violent and abrupt yet silky smooth, and dynamics are terrific. Add to that the dialogue, which is somehow always intelligible and properly prioritized no matter how loud and vile the film gets. High scores all around.

The Substance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 4K Blu-ray release of The Substance only includes one extra, simply titled "Featurette." I'd have more to say about it but my disc errors out when selecting it. I haven't read about others encountering this issue so it's probably an issue specific to my disc. I'll pick up a retail copy and update this portion of my review asap.

The Substance 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Substance is slowly growing on me. Most people had zero issue, declaring it a masterwork upon first viewing. I suspect there are others like me, though, whose first time through didn't go down so well. Given a second chance, it does deliver its loud, aggressive message more effortlessly and cohesively... you just may need to put in more than one viewing to see what everyone else is raving about. Regardless of your take, you won't be disappointed with MUBI's 4K Blu-ray release, which boasts top tier video and excellent lossless audio. This one comes recommended.