The case for The Substance
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- Laura Rutkowski
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Horror as a genre has historically been snubbed at the Oscars. Since 1929, only six horror films have ever been nominated for Best Picture: The Exorcist (1973), Jaws (1975), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Sixth Sense (1999), Black Swan (2010), and Get Out (2017). Of those, only The Silence of the Lambs (1991) actually won, and, if you really want to get technical, it’s more of a psychological thriller anyway. Needless to say, it would be a major surprise if The Substance took home the Best Picture Oscar this year.
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The appetite for horror movies has been steadily growing. More than 1,500 were released in 2023, in comparison to 1,140 in 2013, according to the Horror Movie Report. Yet, Jason Blum, of Blumhouse Productions, who produced Get Out, told Screen Daily, “I think there’s still a good section of the Academy that dismisses horror, no matter what the movie is. There’s a group of them who will not vote for, or even watch, a scary movie.”
Just look at Terrifier 3, a huge box office success that became the highest-grossing unrated film of all time. It never was going to get a look-in at the awards. Whether it’s seen as too “low-brow” or too gory, it certainly doesn’t fit the “elevated” horror (a snobby term, especially for true fans of the genre) category that the Academy finds palatable.
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in The Substance Mubi
The Substance is a body-horror, with grotesquely impressive prostheses and makeup instead of CGI, and its themes run deep. When Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is fired by her producer from her aerobics show for being too old, she learns about The Substance, a serum that, when injected, turns her into a younger version of herself called Sue (played by a charismatic Margaret Qualley). The catch is that the pair must switch bodies every week. If they don’t, they both suffer grave physical side effects.
Some critics have said that The Substance is shallow and lacks exactly what its title suggests, but that’s misguided. It’s a visceral satire of society’s obsession with youth and beauty.
The Substance. MUBI
Director Coralie Fargeat told ABC News that genre films, particularly horror, often have "very political messages at their core that have been a very powerful way to talk about society, to talk about humanity through our fears, through our desires, through our hopes. I think they can be a super powerful mirror of our society, of what we're scared about, of what we desire so much that we can put ourselves in danger to try and achieve it. I think they are a very relevant way to speak about our world.”
The fear of ageing, coupled with impossible beauty standards for women, is relatable for audiences, and casting Demi Moore was genius. The 62-year-old star, who began her acting career in the 80s, playing a woman desperately clinging to fame and relevance, marries up with her own experiences in the industry, where Hollywood is always looking for the youngest, hottest, new thing. The tragedy of it all is that Moore as Sparkle is so beautiful, yet her character can’t see it, and she ends up mutilating and destroying herself in her path to “perfection”.
Margaret Qualley in The Substance. Mubi
Moore is also nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, and she picked up the Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical – the first acting award she’s won in her 45-year career. During her acceptance speech, she said, “30 years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a popcorn actress, and at that time, I made that mean that this wasn’t something that I was allowed to have. That I could do movies that were successful that made a lot of money, but that I couldn’t be acknowledged, and I believed that.”
She went on to say, “I’ll just leave you with one thing that I think this movie is imparting. In those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough or pretty enough or skinny enough or successful enough or basically just not enough – I had a woman say to me, just know, you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.”
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Not only is Moore enough, but horror is enough to win Best Picture. It’s no less thought-provoking, creative or entertaining than any of the other nominees – let’s finally award it as such.
Authors
Laura RutkowskiCommissioning Editor
Laura Rutkowski is a Commissioning Editor at Radio Times magazine, where she looks after the View From My Sofa slot, and the "What it's like to…" column, which spotlights behind-the-scenes roles within the TV and film industry. She loves finding out how productions are made and enjoys covering a wide variety of genres. Laura is half-American and half-British and joined Radio Times in 2022. She has a degree in Psychology and a Master's in Magazine Journalism.
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