The Substance

The thing that always sticks out to me in this movie is how empty it all manages to feel, even when realistically it should be bustling with people. The impossibly long hallways of a studio, but not a single employee to be seen. The empty streets. The starkness of the locker room, where you can see only one other human being is in the same situation as her. And part of that is cause The Substance is made on a very modest budget lol, but it also goes to show part of why Elisabeth was susceptible to the allure of the drug (and the addiction) in the first place. And it’s the same reason so many fall to addiction cuzshe is alone. Elisabeth has no family, no friends, she seems to show no desire for any real social interaction, she has absolutely no support group. And so, her worth in life isn’t defined by any meaningful connections, it’s the ability to have a crowd love her. And once that becomes inseparably linked to a chemical in a needle, her worth in life has now been defined as use of that drug.