The Substance might very well be the best original screenplay of the year. I love A Real Pain, and I will discuss tomorrow how much I love Anora, but there is something about what Director and Screenwriter Coralie Fargeat crafted with this script that sings with a voice the other screenplays this year don’t quite match. There is a rule in screenwriting: show, don’t tell. Every screenwriter, screenwriting instructor, executive producer, reader, or anyone else who evaluates screenplays will tell you that the Cardinal rule of screenwriting is to show more and tell less. Filmmaking is a visual medium, and stories are always more effective when we are shown what happens through action rather than being told what happens through dialogue.
The Substance shows way more than it tells.
Unofficially, I can reasonably guess that The Substance has the least amount of dialogue than any nominee this year, but tells a story that is at least as compelling as any of them. The Substance is a master class in visual storytelling. Almost all the main points are shown to us. Naturally, there is information given to us in dialogue, and much of that comes from the over-the-top performance delivered by Dennis Quaid as Harvey, the sexist television producer who forces Elizabeth (Demi Moore) into retirement in favor of searching for a younger model.
The Substance is also incredibly strong thematically. I wrote an overall review here that you can check out, but you can’t focus on the screenplay without acknowledging how strong this script is thematically and the difficult message it faces head-on. We all know that women are objectified in all walks of life. Nowhere is that more prevalent than in the entertainment industry where, with a few exceptions, middle-aged and older women are cast aside for younger versions at a much more accelerated rate than men are. Physical beauty and objectification ultimately lead to a loss of humanity, and that is exactly what happens to Elizabeth in this film. Speaking directly to women (and men) who mutilate their bodies through plastic surgery and other means to extend the illusion of youth, this film lays bare the consequences of worshipping at beauty’s altar.
Aside from that, The Substance is a remarkably well-structured screenplay with a tight Hero’s Journey.
Ordinary World – Elisabeth Sparkle is a former big star who is past her prime. Her line to herself, “You want to look like a big jellyfish on the beach?” is foreshadowing. Her life, as she knows it is over.
Call to Adventure – She hears network exec on the phone demanding her replacement because she’s too old. After a car accident, a hospital resident tells her about The Substance.
Refusal – She meets an old high school friend, Fred, who wants to reconnect, but he’s ugly, and she’s hesitant. She receives a data stick with an overview of The Subsance. After watching it, she throws it in the trash. The risks don’t seem worth it.
Meeting the Mentor – She calls the number on the stick and talks to a voice on the phone about ordering The Substance. He gives her an address.
Crossing the First Threshold – Elisabeth finds the address and gets the package. She takes The Substance, which, after a violent reaction that literally tears her back open, produces her other self, Sue (Margaret Qualley).
Tests, Allies and Enemies – Sue auditions to be the next Elisabeth Sparkle. She meets Harvey, who hires her, and she comes up with the lie that she needs to be off every other week to go out of town and take care of her mother. She becomes a sensation. Her billboard is on Sunset Boulevard. Everyone loves her. She switches back in time, and Elisabeth wakes up and goes to see Harvey, who gives her a parting gift that she doesn’t open. She gets a note to pick up her refill kit.
Approach – Sue loves the fame. She builds a hidden closet in the bathroom to hide Elisabeth’s body. We see Sue’s billboard outside the apartment in a staring contest with Elisabeth’s broken portrait. Sue takes over Elisabeth’s apartment, along with her life and her show.
Supreme Ordeal – Sue goes out with friends as Elisabeth’s food supply gets dangerously low. She brings a guy home, and Elisabeth runs out of food while they’re making out, causing Sue to start bleeding and breaking down. She gets more fluid from Elisabeth so she can last another day, but it gives Elisabeth a deformity.
Reward – Elisabeth notices her deformed finger and notices Sue took an extra day. She tries to cancel the subscription. She gives them her name, and they don’t recognize her, so she gives them her number, 503 (dehumanization), and they respond. The voice tells her to respect the balance to avoid any more inconvenience. She gets the next refill and hears strange noises. She ducks into a coffee shop. She sees the other self of the man who recruited her. He warns her about loneliness. And tells her it gets harder each time, knowing you still deserve to exist and that the old one still matters. He asks if she’s started eating away at her. Elisabeth calls Fred to get together for a drink. They make a date.
The Road Back – Elisabeth gets ready for the date with a classy red dress. She applies her makeup and realizes she’s not fooling anyone. She looks at Sue, who is still beautiful as she’s passed out, trying to touch herself, but she only makes herself look more disheveled. She sees Sue’s billboard and tries to make herself up even more, but she only looks worse. Feeling too insecure about herself, she tries more makeup and messes with her hair. She can’t escape the image of Sue looking at her, judging her. She looks so old to herself. She angrily wipes the makeup off her face. She never meets up with George. (All of this is shown visually with absolutely no dialogue).
Back to Sue, her body starts to break down. She finds a growth that she pulls out through her belly button and wakes with a start. It was a dream. She gets to the studio, and Harvey tells her ratings are through the roof and tells her that she will host the New Year’s Eve show, but it will require intense training. She will make it happen. Sue steals days.=
Elisabeth is old and deformed. The voice offers to stop, but she won’t get back what she lost. She refuses that idea. She wants the balance to be respected. The voice tells her to respect it. She opens the gift Harvey gave her, and it’s a cookbook. She cooks disgusting looking food. Everything in her world is turning ugly.,
Resurrection – Sue wakes up with a mess and decides she can’t go back. She sucks as much essence out of Elizabeth as she can and lasts for months. The New Year’s Eve show is going to be put on the following day, but there is no stabilizer left. The voice tells her she’s reached the end. The only way to get more is to let the fluid regenerate, so she has to switch. “There is no other option.” She switches, and Elisabeth wakes up and is now a hideous monster. She calls and tells them she wants to stop. They deliver the final kit. She picks it up, and it’s a termination stick. She’s just about to inject it, and here’s the voice asking if she’s sure. She can’t go back. She’ll be on her own. She injects Sue but stops before all the fluid is in her. After seeing the flowers and the note saying they’re going to love her. Sue wakes up and sees the termination kit and freaks out, beating Elizabeth to death. Then her body breaks down leading up to the special.
Return with the Elixir: Sue races home and injects the starter, turning her into a deformed monster. Monsro Elisasue gets dressed, puts an Elisabeth mask on, and goes to the lot for the New Year’s Eve Show. Everyone thinks she’s beautiful when she gets there and sings her praises. But on stage, her mask falls off, and everyone sees how she really is, and they’re repulsed. They scream and call her a monster. She calls out, “It’s still me!” and “I’m still here!” until her head is bashed in by a crowbar. Her head regenerates; she sprays blood all over the audience. She escapes the studio and disintegrates on the sidewalk. Elisabeth’s face breaks off and stops on her star on the Walk of Fame. She’s back in the spotlight before melting completely away.
It’s a long and intense story. It’s a screenplay that makes us confront what we value in our lives and in ourselves. It challenges us to move past the superficial surface level of life and appreciate what’s deep inside of everyone. Outer beauty is fleeting. Inner beauty is forever, but only if you had it to begin with.