The battle between good and evil exists within us all. That wicked, impulsive animal always waiting for the rational part of humanity to unleash it. These are the overarching themes mostJekyll and Hydeadaptations choose to highlight even though this is far from the original text is really about. The central idea of the originalJekyll and Hydeis not that there is an eternal battle between good and evil waging within us all. Jekyll is not good, and Hyde is not evil.They are the same person with the only difference being that Hyde looks different, and thus can commit as many horrible crimes as he wants without Jekyll being held accountable. And while even the most enjoyableJekyll and Hydeadaptations fail to pick up this theme,Coralie Fargeat’s 2024body horrorThe Substanceunderstands this implicitly.
‘The Substance’ Has Many ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ Connections
The Substance’s similarities toJekyll and Hydeare immediately obvious. Elisabeth injects an unnatural, sickly-looking goo into herself, and from that comes Sue, an evil alter ego of sorts. The film seems to harken back to theGothicsci-fi horrorofJekyll and Hyde,but the parallels are not confined to their visual styles. Just as HydeisJekyll with a different face, SueisElisabeth. The film essentially voices this theme word-for-word with its repetition of “Remember you are one.” And though Sue might find Elisabeth disgusting, these feelings are not some corruption of Elisabeth by the substance but are instead her own insecurities manifest.Just as Jekyll feels enabled through the mask of Hyde to live the life he actually wants, so too does Elisabeth through the mask of Sue.
‘The Substance’s Brutal Take on Disney Princesses
When the clock strikes midnight, your body shall start expelling organs!
It is telling that when granted the opportunity to do whatever she wants with her life through the youth and beauty the substance grants her, Sue chooses to simply relive Elisabeth’s life. Elisabeth, now 50, is discarded by the entertainment industry as being “too old.” But Sue does not try and rebel against thepatriarchal system that deems women useless and disgusting when they age.She, instead, buys into it entirely.Sue could have taken her new face and youthful body and used it toenact revenge on the boar-ish, misogynistic Harvey(Dennis Quaid), but she doesn’t. Despite the fact that she could have gotten away with it because she doesn’t exist as a person in any official capacity, Sue doesn’t even think to attack Harvey at all. Similarly, while Jekyll is an upstanding citizen in the repressed, puritanical society of Victorian England who could do literallyanythingas Hyde, he instead wastes the anonymity of this alter ego to be cruel and engage in his “vices.” The best thing Sue can think to do with her new life is some weekday exercise show. And the best thing Hyde can think to do with his is be cruel, drink, and gamble.
Sue and Elisabeth May Be One, But They Hate Each Other
Sue’s anger and resentment lie not with Harvey or theentertainment industry full of men like him, but with Elisabeth for “stealing” her time from her. Ultimately, this is a manifestation of Elisabeth’s own insecurities. Elisabeth and Sue exist as an ouroboros of self-hatred. Elisabeth hates Sue for being the exact kind of young, new, thing that the industry replaces women like her with.Sue hates Elisabeth for daring to exist at all when the younger, better Sue has a life to live. Their resentment is indicative of the ways that women internalize misogyny, but is also strikingly similar to the dynamic between Jekyll and Hyde.
Like Jekyll and Hyde, Sue and Elisabeth Need Each Other
Just as Sue cannot exist without Elisabeth,Hyde cannot exist without Jekyll. Jekyll’s money and position within Victorian society as a well-respected doctor grants him access to wealth and trust Hyde would never have his hands on otherwise. And it is Elisabeth’s experience, as well as the stabilizer fluid Sue draws from her spine, that enables Sue to navigate the entertainment industry as well as she does. But just as Hyde begins to take over Jekyll’s life, Sue begins to control Elisabeth’s. Both have disastrous consequences, and it’s the ensuing chaos that makesThe Substancethe most interestingJekyll and Hydetake sinceFight Club. “You are one.” “You can’t escape yourself.“is repeated throughout the film like drums in a march to war. Hyde’s wickedness is not something separate from the outward moral goodness of Jekyll,it’s a part of him. And so too is the craven, cruel, ageist misogyny of Sue, a part of Elisabeth.
The Substanceis available to stream on Mubi in the U.S.
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The Substance
