Disclaimer: This article contains huge spoilers for The Substance.
The Substance takes body horror to new, grotesque heights, leaving viewers wrestling with its surreal ending. But, such is the poignancy as well as the shock of "Monstro Elisasue," a hybrid monstrosity created from parts both of Elisabeth (Demi Moore) and Sue (Margaret Qualley) in the final act of The Substance.
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But, what was this "monster," and what finally became of it? Behind all this lies the film's underlying themes of identity, aging, and the obsession with perfectibility. "Monstro Elisasue" symbolizes both of these women, in both literal and figurative terms, and these inner conflicts and the pressures in society produced a "monster" that emerged in this movie.
The monster, even with its gruesome appearance, goes through some sort of odd acceptance with itself. This could only be something neither Elisabeth, nor Sue ever did. It's also short-lived as the monster only destroyed itself in a mess of blood in its final climax in a way that would leave its mark in Hollywood, literally.
What did the monster in The Substance mean?
The 'substance' of The Substance revolves around the idea of youth and perfection, driving Elisabeth Sparkle into the act of injecting the secret serum. Her creation, Sue, comes to depict everything Elisabeth so terribly hankers after - young, beautiful, and pertinent to a society so keen on emphasizing these themes.
However, the division between them ends up disintegrating with Sue's increasing voracious consumption of Elisabeth's energy to finally bring forth Monstro Elisasue.
Speaking to USA Today, Margaret Qualley said about playing this creature, that behind that monstrous form, there is emotion.
“It was special to feel love and gooeyness come from something so physically weird," she said.
She also stressed that even though Monstro boasted about wearing earrings, in this act, there was a self-acceptance that Elisabeth and Sue lacked.
This monstrous form would hold a mute Elisabeth's face protruding from it, symbolizing the worst consequence of their obsession with perfection: an empty, disfigured shell of what they once were.
The Substance’s finale is bloody, yet symbolic
It is during the "bloody" climax of the chaotic film that Monstro Elisasue suddenly makes an appearance at the New Year's Eve show.
As Qualley notes in her interview, the production used "30,000 gallons of fake blood" to exaggerate the viscerally awful quality of this shot. Director Coralie Fargeat even operated a firehose while filming, dousing the scene with blood as Monstro self-destructed.
This shocking moment then metaphorically serves to represent the transience of fame and beauty, which are ideals that motivated both Elisabeth and Sue towards their ruin.
Elisabeth’s final act of desperation in The Substance
Elisabeth would never forget her decision to administer the termination serum to Sue, before reviving her. She had hoped to succeed in trying to sever her connection by attempting to cut her loose again, but it was too late, and the damage was done.
According to Business Insider, Elisabeth was monstrous physically and emotionally as Sue continued to siphon the life out of her. The mere attempt on the part of Elisabeth to take control by violence itself goes wrong and seals her fate. The two women were linked and shouldn't be able to live without each other.
This leads to Sue's vicious revenge, killing Elisabeth brutally. But, this victory is vacuous because, in reality, Sue lives by the stabilizer fluid from Elisabeth. Without this fluid, Sue's body decays almost overnight, leaving a pathway for the emergence of Monstro Elisasue.
Who was Monstro Elisasue on The Substance?
Desperate to survive, Sue injects what remains of the Substance in an attempt to create another version of herself. However, she gives birth to the monstrous creature Monstro Elisasue, something like an embryo brought forth through mixed DNA from both women.
The result is a twisted composite of their identities, with Elisabeth's face forever stuck in a silent scream. As such, the final form became a harbinger of failure; for in achieving their quest for perfection, they turned out to be something so much worse.
Despite its monstrous appearance, Monstro attempts to pride itself when it wears Elisabeth's earrings and makeup, marking a tragic attempt at times of asserting identity amidst turmoil.
Read more: The identity of the real killer on MaXXXine
The monster’s final act on The Substance is to go back to the star on the Walk of Fame
Monstro Elisasue performs its last act in a grotesque, and yet weirdly poetic twist of events. Having made a mess of the bloodbath at the New Year's Eve show, the creature then proceeds to Elisabeth's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to spectacularly explode in a shower of blood and flesh.
It is the last scene that Monstro, on the physical level is destroyed, but more importantly, that symbolizes the wantedly doomed quest of Elisabeth and Sue to attain perfection. The last shot of The Substance too leaves a deep impact, leaving the spectator to realize that the broken pieces of Monstro stained the very symbol of Hollywood, fame.
The Substance is a film that postulates to take body horror to new extremes, while simultaneously offering biting social commentary against the pressures of society. The shocking ending perhaps, fits the tragic journey of the characters pretty well.
The Substance will stream on Mubi.
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