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Spoilers
The Substance starts off like a perfect film for any fan of clever horror with an off-putting satirical edge. From the moment the trailer dropped, I was hyped—and for good reason. I mean the adrenaline inducing score alone! The first 90 minutes deliver in spades: Demi Moore is magnetic, Dennis Quaid is perfectly unhinged, and the film nails its commentary on aging, beauty, and the Hollywood machine. The camera work is slick, with its use of world distorting ultra-wide lenses, the dark humor lands, and there’s a genuine emotional core beneath all the genre trappings. It walks that fine line between absurdity and insight, and for a while, I was convinced I was watching something close to a masterpiece.
But then… the final act happened. And I have no idea what the filmmakers were thinking. It’s like they had tapped every ounce of their creative power and weren’t sure what to do at the end. I can only describe it as The Fly, Akira, and The Toxic Avenger thrown into a blender and that’s where The Substance decides to veer off a narrative cliff. The last 30 minutes are so so cartoonishly gross that all the careful groundwork the film laid gets obliterated. Instead of a bold ending with emotional or thematic weight, we get a chaotic media spectacle that’s not shocking or smart—just irritating and contrived with enough spirting blood to make Tarantino blush. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a mic drop that ends in a faceplant.
What stings the most is how close the film came to greatness. The story had a clear message about female exploitation in entertainment, and Moore’s performance made that theme hit hard. But then the movie seemed to become the very thing it was criticizing—an exploitation piece dressed up as commentary. As if the director thought (and rightfully so, apparently) that a somewhat original story plus gratuitous nudity equals an Oscar. A smarter, more satisfying ending—perhaps one where Moore’s character confronted the creators of “The Substance” rather than dissolving into gooey shock value—could’ve elevated this into multi-Oscar territory (it did win one Academy Award for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling). Instead, it squandered that chance for cheap thrills.
Visually, the film has style. The score and sound design are solid. The acting? Great across the board. That’s why the ending feels like such a betrayal. All the hype, all the promise—it just collapses under the weight of its own over-the-top nonsense. It had all the right ingredients to be unforgettable—but unfortunately, it’s the bad taste of that final act I won’t forget.
NerdScore 6.5/10