The Substance

The Substance (2024), Coralie Fargeat

I wanted to tell a story with nudity.
At every age, we can find something wrong with ourselves, which can make us feel like monsters.
Your image defines you and your self-worth.
But I thought that if I could create something meaningful about these issues,
it could also serve as a form of liberation.

— Coralie Fargeat —

영화 The Substance를 봤다.

바디 호러를 중심으로 한 고어 장르라 분명 보기 힘들긴 했지만 공공장소에서 여성의 몸은 끊임없이 판단되고 분석되며 성적 대상화되기에 여성들이 자신의 몸을 타인의 시선과 평가에 맞춰야 하는 상황 자체가 폭력이라고 생각하는 Coralie Fargeat 감독의 말을 들어보면 The Substance 중 과장된 호러의 장면은 단 하나도 없었고 전부 현실이었다.

영화는 전반적으로 사람의 가치를 상품화하고 보편화된 지속적이지 않은 beauty standards를 가진 사회, 또는 할리우드 산업을 비판하지만 영화를 보며 계속 Elizabeth에게 몰입하게 되면서 자신의 가치를 절대 내가 통제할 수 없는 외부에 하나로 규정하지 않고 더 안전하고 단단한 내면의 것들에 자기 가치의 기준을 세워야 두어야 한다는 경각심이 들었다.

...감독 인터뷰 중...

Sue의 이름에 대해서

It came during the writing. To me the name embodies a Marilyn Monroe vibe, like an old Lolita, baby-doll, sexy icon type. It evokes the past, and subconsciously it was a way for me to symbolically reference the images and representations of the past that shaped today’s expectation of what is beautiful, sexy, and valued. It’s something I preserved unconsciously with the name.

영화 속 장소 연출에 대해서

Each of the locations represents something. For instance, the long orange corridor at the TV network represents Elisabeth’s life. She started at some point at one end and then is finished when she reaches the other. Having these strong visual statements from the start can [suggest to] the audience that we are in a distinct world that has its own rules. We don’t care about realism or reality—we’re in the world of The Substance.

I gave the same explanation to my crew when designing the apartment. It was important for it to have a timeless, old-fashioned but also futuristic quality so it could represent every age, every kind of world, while also being rich in symbolism. The large window connects the inside and outside and lets Elisabeth gaze at her past, which is at one point taken from her. When Sue is reborn, the view becomes the future.

The white bathroom, where all her transformations occur, serves as a cocoon where she confronts herself—almost like an experimental chamber. It’s a mental space, and I wanted it to feel very abstract, stylized, and almost empty. I remember my production designer asking, “Are you sure you don’t want any furniture in the bathroom at all?”

결말에 대해서

When the final transformation arrives, it felt quite intuitive to bring the character ultimate relief. Ironically, it’s when she’s totally deformed and monstrous that she doesn’t care what she looks like. In fact, it’s the only time she looks in the mirror and kind of likes what she sees. That’s the moment when she finally feels like she deserves to go out in public, no matter what she looks like. We hide behind our polished smiles, and I wanted the character to unleash those hidden anxieties. The audience [in the film], which stands in for all of us as a society, screams and hates her for this, and I wanted to portray how violent that reaction can be. That the only real moment of relief that she has is when she doesn’t have a body anymore, I think, says it all.

Suh, Elissa. “Filmmaker Coralie Fargeat on the Shocking Truths of ‘The Substance.’” Vogue, 18 September 2024, https://www.vogue.com/article/coralie-fargeat-the-substance-interview. Accessed 5 March 2025.

Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect. One single injection unlocks your DNA, starting a new cellular division,

that will release another version of yourself.

This is the Substance.