Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Substance (2024)
While The Substance sees Demi Moore play an Oscar winner, I think Hollywood should make the actor a real-life winner thanks to her fearless performance in the wild satirical body horror. The Substance is the sophomore directorial effort of Coralie Fargeat, previously known for her 2017 debut Revenge. Like that brutal earlier horror movie, The Substance is a canny, vicious feminist horror movie that doesn’t shy away from the genre’s nastier side. In an era of so-called “Elevated horror,” Fargeat’s second movie is unabashedly influenced by Cronenberg, Carpenter, and even the grisly Italian horrors of Lucio Fulci.
However, The Substance‘s critically acclaim comes from more than gore. The Substance’s story of an aging actor using the eponymous experimental serum to grow a younger version of herself is a heady combination of social satire, body horror, and speculative sci-fi. Demi Moore’s comeback performance as The Substance’s troubled heroine Elizabeth Sparkle is career-best work, while Margaret Qualley’s unhinged, unsettling Sue compliments her perfectly. The two actors offer fearless, profoundly moving performances in their respective roles, and that’s why I hope one part of The Substance’s story comes true for Moore.
Demi Moore’s Elisabeth Is An Oscar Winner In The Substance
Elisabeth Sparkle Earned An Oscar For An Unnamed Movie
Early on in The Substance, the movie reveals that Demi Moore’s actor character is a fictional Oscar winner. Harvey jokingly says she won an Oscar for 1933’s King Kong while insulting her age, but the movie never reveals what fictional film earned her the accolade. However, the statuette can be glimpsed among her collection of awards in Sparkle’s home, and her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame further indicates just how successful she was at the height of her career. Judging by Moore’s performance, I think The Substance should earn her a real-life Oscar win in 2025.
While there are a handful of horror movies like The Substance, there are a few earlier genre outings that manage to balance extremely gruesome body horror with sharp, surprisingly poignant commentary on gender, insecurity, power, the fear of aging, and impossible beauty standards. It is to Moore’s credit that Sparkles’ story resonates with viewers despite how potentially ludicrous the movie’s far-fetched sci-fi premise could appear. Her lived-in performance and sympathetic portrayal of this flawed, bitter character make Elizabeth feel like more than a cipher for the movie industry. In Moore’s hands, this potential caricature feels achingly, tragically real.
Demi Moore’s The Substance Performance Is Worthy Of An Oscar Win
Demi Moore’s Fearless Turn In The Substance Is A Career High Point
Moore’s performance has earned some of her best reviews ever on Rotten Tomatoes, and I can see why. From a bravura early silent sequence that details Elizabeth’s first encounter with the substance to the nightmarish finale, the heroine’s entire arc is etched across Moore’s taut, trembling face. Bouncing between rage, brittle fragility, and relatable insecurity, Moore finds humanity in a character whose wealth and success should make her uniquely privileged and tough to empathize with. While The Substance’s Sue is also captivating, it is Sparkle who the audience ends up rooting for despite her self-destructive urges.
The Substance
is currently playing in theaters.
When Elizabeth stays home instead of attending a date with a seemingly well-meaning classmate from her distant past, Moore makes this moment of vulnerability harrowing. This pays off dividends later on, as the story of The Substance grows increasingly surreal, bloody, and brutal. While the movie’s latter half might include some of the most shocking visuals of 2024, I can’t remember a scene that hit me as hard as Elizabeth’s reaction to Sue’s one-night stand rudely ordering her to get out of his way. Elizabeth’s dawning realization that he sees her as nothing more than a obstruction is heartbreaking.
How Realistic Is It That Demi Moore Will Get An Oscar Nomination For The Substance?
The Substance’s Brutal Body Horror Is Unfortunately Likely To Repel The Academy
While the Academy rarely honors horror movies, I firmly believe that Demi Moore could at least earn a Best Actress nomination for The Substance. It is less likely that such an unabashedly grotesque, bawdy satire would win the award, but the critical praise lavished on Moore’s performance means it would be hard for the Academy to ignore the role entirely. Since horror movies tend to fare poorly at the Oscars and The Substance never plays down its genre roots, I can’t imagine Moore getting the statuette she deserves for this uniquely fearless role.
The physical challenges of Moore’s role in The Substance alone, from extensive prosthetics to frequent full-frontal scenes, deserve recognition.
However, I do think that she will at least be honored with a nomination. The physical challenges of Moore’s role in The Substance alone, from extensive prosthetics to frequent full-frontal scenes, deserve some recognition. That said, it is Moore’s performance itself that makes the movie such a standout success for me and many other critics. While it might be too crude and bloody for the Academy to recognize this, I know that Moore’s part in The Substance deserves a place in 2025’s Best Actress category.
Source: RottenTomatoes
