This major plot hole in The Substance kinda ruins the whole film and I’m furious

Well, it’s over. I absolutely adored The Substance, the new film from Coralie Fargeat, has been a major breakthrough for her as a director and has been deemed an instant body horror classic – but now one plot hole is doing the rounds on Reddit that kind of makes you think about the whole film in a different way. The film is still dominating the horror world as everyone gets obsessed with The Substance and Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley’s insane performances, but this plot hole kinda throws it all off kilter.

A bit of context before the actual plot hole. The Substance tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore. Sparkle is a fading Hollywood star, who due to agisim in the industry is ousted from her job – and then gets involved in a car accident as she watches workers rip a billboard of her face down. When in hospital, she gets slipped a mysterious business card informing her about ‘the substance’. Intrigued, Elisabeth signs up for the substance – an injection that creates a “younger, better version of yourself”. When she starts the process, Margaret Qualley emerges from her back and names herself Sue. Sue and Elisabeth have to swap between each other week by week, with no rule breaking.

When one is in control, the other lies dormant on the floor. They are fully independent from each other, and as Sue starts to take advantage and not swap back within the week rule Elisabeth and Sue are at war with each other – despite the fact Sue can’t exist without Elisabeth.

The plot hole…

Elisabeth takes the titular substance to be a younger better version of herself, but the plot hole of the movie is how she doesn’t control the Sue body, nor does she retain any of the glory and adoration Sue gets. The two are fundamentally operating completely differently and independently, so why would Elisabeth keep taking it to her own detriment when she doesn’t get to reap the benefits?

Elisabeth endures pure hell in the film whilst Sue reaps the benefits, but why wouldn’t Elisabeth bail on the substance early on when she doesn’t get any of the joy that Sue gets to take from it? Much to think about.

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