This article contains MAJOR spoilers for the ending of The Substance.The makeup team behindThe Substancebreaks down the movie’s design for Elisasue. Directed by Coralie Fargeat, the movies was one of last year’s breakout horror films. It made Oscar history by becoming theseventh horror film ever to be nominated for Best Picture, and it was also nominated for four other Oscars, including Best Actress, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Of its five nominations, the film ended up winning one Oscar, for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling.
In an interview at the Oscar Winners Press Room, whereScreenRantwas in attendance, makeup designers Stéphanie Guillon and Pierre-Olivier Persin explained how the Elisasue design came about. Guillon said that she and the rest of the team wanted to capture her “beautiful face” even during the monstrous transformation at the end. Persin went so far as to say that when she transforms into “Monstro,” “she is the happiest” despite her external appearances. Check out the full quotes from Guillon and Persin below:
Stéphanie Guillon:Of course, there will be a message, especially in the the [time] that we’re living in, where the woman needs to always be beautiful, smiling, and in good shape. Coralie wanted to have a special message, and we try to do that in the makeup, like [showing] her beautiful face; it’s going down, but staying beautiful until the end. Even if she is damaged on the outside, she still feels beautiful at the end.
Pierre-Olivier Persin:I do think at the end, when she turns into Monstro [Elisasue], she’s the happiest. Even though, for the audience, she can look ugly and like a monster, she finds a balance. So, that’s one thing to keep from the movie.
What This Means For The Substance
Elisabeth Was Shocked By Some Stages Of Transformation
Prior to her transformation into Elisasue, Elisabeth is horrified by her transitions into more ghastly forms. When the “Sue” version of her starts testing the rules and boundaries of The Substance, Elisabeth’s body form starts devolving, experiencing an increasing number of ailments to her bodily form. At first glance, these transformations do not appear to make her happy, and probably before the full Monstro transformation, Elisabeth is still horrified by her increasingly decrepit form.
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The scene shifts, however, when Elisabeth makes the full metamorphosis into Elisasue. In her previous forms, she holed up in her apartment and gorged herself with food, but as Elisasue, she decides to go out into the world for her stage show. As such, she dresses her deformed body to still look pretty, wearing a dress and jewelry. While her body is undoubtedly unconventional and changed, this lasting commitment to fashion is one way the “balance” that the designers reference is observed, and the fact that “she still feels beautiful at the end.”
Our Take On The Elisasue Ending Transformation
The Ending Made People Talk
It is fascinating to see these Oscar-winning designers' takes on the Elisasue transformation, as it is not what everybody would necessarily interpret. However, the ending is what ultimately made the horror movie the phenomenon it was.The Substanceendingkept people talking for weeks after the film’s release, and the effects makeup led its artists to an Oscar. Given the level of traction the movie gained during award season,The Substance’s Elisasue will go down as one of the more memorable figures in modern horror.
The Substance
Cast
Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading celebrity, turns to a mysterious drug that promises to restore her youth by creating a younger, more beautiful version of herself. But splitting time between her original and new body leads to horrifying consequences as her alternate self, Sue, begins to unravel her life in a disturbing body-horror descent.
