A faded fitness TV star injects herself with a black-market substance that creates a younger, perfect version of herself. She discovers that the 2 of them must share a life neither can fully claim. Coralie Fargeat's film is an over-the-top body horror attack on the beauty and entertainment industries.
The Substance is a 2024 horror, science fiction and thriller film directed by Coralie Fargeat. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 psychology, 1 narrative and 2 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, The Thing uses several of the same techniques.
Showing the human body being changed, damaged or falling apart. The horror works because you imagine it happening to your own body, and it often stands for mental suffering.
How this film uses it
Fargeat escalates the body horror in steps, from cosmetic injections to bone-cracking transformations to the apocalyptic final act. She uses the physically grotesque as a direct metaphor for what the beauty industry does to women over time.
Where to see it
The first use of the Substance. The protagonist's body physically splits into 2 separate selves, and it is shot in clinical detail that never looks away.
Mocking a specific world, such as an industry, an institution or consumer culture, by exaggerating what is already there. A sci-fi future built from present trends can do this with no direct argument.
How this film uses it
The film's entertainment industry is shot in bright, saturated color. Cinematographer Benjamin Kracun described the look as "pink noir". It lets you see the unreality of the beauty industry as an environment someone designed.
Where to see it
The aerobics TV studio set. It is built as a fantasy of physical perfection with no reference to actual human bodies. The design condemns the whole system before the film says so out loud.
Creating effects physically on set with makeup, prosthetics, built props and camera tricks, with no computer graphics added later. The results look solid and real.
How this film uses it
Fargeat and her effects team created the most extreme body horror sequences with elaborate practical prosthetics and physical rigs, all built for real. So the grotesque looks solid and physical. Digital effects would have made it prettier and less real.
Where to see it
The climactic New Year's Eve transformation sequence. It is built from layers of practical prosthetic work, so the horror stays visceral and never turns into spectacle.
Filming a confrontation in extreme close-ups of faces, eyes and hands, often cutting between them. The tight framing builds tension before anything happens and makes the fight a mental one.
How this film uses it
Fargeat uses extreme close-ups of both the protagonist and her younger self, so the horror of competing with yourself becomes physical. The 2 versions of the same person examine each other with contempt and recognition.
Where to see it
The scenes where Elisabeth and Sue face each other. The camera moves between their faces, uncomfortably tight and close.
Questions
The Substance: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does The Substance use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in The Substance (2024): Body Horror, Environmental Satire, Practical In-Camera Effects and Extreme Close-Up Standoff.
Who directed The Substance?
Coralie Fargeat directed The Substance, released in 2024. CineCode also covers Revenge (2017).
What films are similar to The Substance?
Films that share techniques with The Substance include The Thing (1982), Blade II (2002), Braindead (1992), Videodrome (1983).
