The Substance on a Platter: What Food Tells Us About Beauty’s Dark Side

The Substance (2024), directed by Coralie Fargeat, is a bold film that challenges societal obsessions with youth and beauty. While the storyline is gripping and the characters complex, it’s the food symbolism woven throughout that truly elevates the narrative. Each food element—eggs, foie gras, prawns—serves as a potent metaphor for beauty, desire, and sacrifice, adding layers of meaning to Elisabeth Sparkle’s (Demi Moore) haunting journey.

In The Substance, food functions as a mirror to Elisabeth’s unravelling psyche, reflecting the sacrifices and consequences that come with pursuing eternal youth. Through carefully selected foods, the film reveals the disturbing realities behind beauty’s allure and the high cost of maintaining an idealised self.

Elisabeth’s journey begins with eggs, an innocuous symbol of life and beginnings. In the film’s opening scenes, she prepares eggs with care, symbolising a delicate balance and her initial grasp on self-control and self-care. Eggs, with their fragile shells and nourishing interiors, represent her potential for transformation—a theme reinforced when she contemplates cracking the ‘shell’ of her own life to reveal a renewed self underneath.

However, as her obsession with youth takes hold, Elisabeth’s relationship with eggs darkens. In a visceral scene, she smashes hundreds of eggs in her kitchen, violently discarding any remaining sense of balance or control. Covered in the yolks, she becomes both creator and destroyer, a force consumed by her hunger for change. The act of beating and discarding the eggs symbolises not just the breakdown of her former self, but also the desperation to birth a new, more beautiful identity—even if it means sacrificing her essence.

The Substance doesn’t shy away from illustrating the luxury and cost associated with beauty, and nowhere is this more evident than in Elisabeth’s symbolic connection to foie gras. Known as a prized delicacy, foie gras comes from the force-fed liver of ducks or geese, a brutal process that mirrors the self-imposed sacrifices Elisabeth endures. Just as these animals are plied with more than they can healthily endure, Elisabeth subjects herself to extreme measures, force-feeding herself to society’s ideals of beauty, ultimately distorting her identity.

The image of foie gras in The Substance becomes a complex symbol of indulgence tainted by suffering. Elisabeth’s willingness to sacrifice her comfort, humanity, and even dignity to achieve an impossible standard echoes the tragic plight of the animals. This delicacy serves as a commentary on the toxic nature of excess—how society’s ‘luxuries’ are often born from cruelty, be it to animals or one’s self. Foie gras, thus, is more than a dish; it’s a metaphor for the dark underside of beauty and luxury, reminding us that the pursuit of perfection often comes at an unspeakable cost.

As Elisabeth’s journey intensifies, the symbolism of prawns emerges in scenes featuring her corporate handler, Harvey. Known for his control over Elisabeth’s life, Harvey dines on prawns, a delicacy peeled, consumed, and discarded. Prawns, stripped of their shells, serve as a perfect metaphor for the entertainment industry’s treatment of individuals as mere objects to be used and then disposed of.

In The Substance, prawns symbolise the ease with which beauty and youth are consumed, discarded, and replaced by the next available source of allure. Elisabeth, in her vulnerable quest for transformation, becomes like the prawns: stripped, exposed, and ultimately seen as expendable. Through Harvey’s casual consumption, the film critiques an industry that feeds off individuals’ insecurities, valuing people only as long as they conform to the desired image. It’s a brutal reminder that beauty and youth, while idealised, are ultimately treated as consumables—momentary pleasures that are easily replaced once their shine begins to fade.

The Substance goes beyond the surface, weaving a tale of obsession, sacrifice, and the allure of beauty. Through vivid food symbolism, Fargeat exposes the hollowness behind society’s obsession with youth and beauty, exploring how far one might go to meet impossible standards. The eggs, foie gras, and prawns not only enrich the visual storytelling but also challenge viewers to consider the cost of chasing fleeting ideals.

With food as its metaphorical backbone, The Substance invites audiences to chew on the question: what are we really consuming when we indulge in the idea of beauty? It’s a haunting reminder of how easily we can be consumed by the very things we desire, leaving us hollow, changed, and forever hungry for something just out of reach.

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Behind the Scenes Peek behind the scenes to uncover how impactful narratives are crafted through the artful blend of costume, direction, music, and design that brings stories to life.

In The Substance, costume designer Emmanuelle Youchnovski uses wardrobe choices to amplify the story’s themes of transformation and superficial beauty. Each outfit Elisabeth and her youthful alter ego, Sue (Margaret Quallet), wear is chosen carefully to mirror their distinct personas while also showing the gradual impact of the transformative product. Elisabeth’s clothes are initially classic, sophisticated, and tailored to reflect her experience and identity. As she transforms into Sue, her attire shifts to something softer, more youthful, and seemingly carefree—a visual indicator of the external change at play.

The costume evolution from sophisticated to carefree styles illustrates how clothing shapes our perceptions of youth, desire, and identity. By presenting Sue’s wardrobe as lighter and more vibrant, the film highlights how youth is idealised and presented as ‘carefree’ while concealing the darker truths beneath the surface. Costume, in this context, becomes a symbolic layer that enriches the film’s commentary on the artificiality of beauty and the identity struggles Elisabeth faces.