What is the film "Substance" about and why has it become so popular?

Hi! You've obviously heard of a movie like Substance, and maybe even watched it. In this post, I propose to analyze how this horror managed to become so popular in a matter of days.

  "Substance" has an abnormal success rate for horror. The film has already entered the top three highest-grossing foreign films released at the Russian box office this year. In a month and a half, the "Substance" has collected more than 400 million rubles, which is more than the "Collector of Souls" (392 million).  

In the story, the once-successful actress Elizabeth Sparkle undergoes a radical rejuvenation procedure in order to become in demand again. This is how an improved version of her appears – young Sue. But the experiment brings even more pain to Elizabeth herself. The plot of the film is about strict standards of beauty, objectification of women and ageism. Such meanings are read instantly, and they were conveyed in an interview by director Coralie Farja.:

"The picture shows how women are perceived in society, about the violence that we still have to face in everyday life at every level. About how we should behave, how we should look in order to simply exist and be valuable... So it's not a fight between the heroines (Cyber: between Elizabeth and her copy Sue). It's not her [fighting] with herself. She's the one against the rest of the world."

All these themes are wrapped up in a successful form: there is a lot of blood and nasty scenes in the film, but they are carefully diluted with sadistic fun. The film is easier to digest than regular body horror movies. However, before the complete transformation, we are still being shown Demi Moore's piercing performance and Qualley's choreographic skills, and we cannot take our eyes off them.

Another, perhaps the most obvious reason is the appearance of memes. In November 2024, memes appeared on the Runet, in which the phrase from the movie sounds. Initially, they compared characters and their best versions, but the template quickly became absurd: for example, users began comparing animals with food, and interior items with clothes.

Also, this film could not but affect the "word of mouth effect": viewers not only watched the film themselves, but also actively recommended it to each other. This allowed the "Substance" to collect a large cash register in the Russian Federation and become even more popular.

Thank you all for reading!!