How it works and who created it

The following contains spoilers for The Substance, currently playing in theatersThe substance is a great addition to the body horror genre, with the serum (and its mysterious creator) working in some effective and disturbing ways. The substance is largely about Elizabeth, an aging celebrity who finds herself a fresh chance at youthful stardom thanks to the titular compound. The serum has some very clear rules and the true scope of the world process behind it remains mysterious, allowing the film to highlight what it can by keeping the focus on The substances tight cast.

Throughout the course of the film, audiences are shown the concept behind the serum, the process by which it is used, and the horrifying ways in which it can be reversed. The film also teases how the unspoken rules of the rules work in the Demi Moore-led movie, carefully avoiding too much detail about the real truth behind the serum. Here’s everything known about The serum of The substance And how it works.

How the substance serum works

The serum creates a whole second body

The serum in The substance are the catalyst for the film’s plotSet aside the horrifying events of the film. The first serum is a unique compound that is administered through an activator shot. By duplicating certain elements of the user’s DNA, the serum can force the user to make a “perfect” copy of the original body. The body is in perfect physical health and condition, as Elizabeth discovers when she painfully scoops “Sue” off her back. Notably, the mind and memories are the same, with the original body remaining comatose while the copy is active and awake.

While in the younger body, the original coma body produces a substance dubbed the “stabilizer.” The double must take the stabilizer daily. It is repeatedly stressed that the user cannot occupy the younger body for more than seven days. Although the reasoning is initially vague, Elizabeth discovers her original body age in an advanced course when comatose for too long. The process can be completed only with a specific final administration of the mysterious substance. It will not reverse any advanced aging of the original, but it requires administration to the duplicate as well to effectively kill them.

Who created the substance’s serum?

The man behind the serum is a major mystery

One of the great mysteries of the US The substance is the identity of the creator of the serum. Elizabeth never meets the creator or the company that produces the serum. She only learns about it after a chance meeting with a nurse who believes she would be an ideal candidate for the procedure. Elizabeth later meets an elderly man who is heavily implied to be the nurse in his old body, although it is unclear if he is simply another user of the serum or if he is involved in the actual process of making it.

The creator and the company behind it remain a mystery Throughout the film, though, they seem very well-funded. The company operates in secrecy, communicating only through phone calls and flash drives. They are straight-forward, open, and unyielding. They can hide a clean drop-off zone in plain sight, suggesting a larger organization instead of a smaller operation. The process feels perfect, even if the dangers are not eliminated, suggesting the creator is a greater force. However, their identities and motivations remain a mystery, allowing the film to remain focused on Elizabeth and Sue’s story.

How Elizabeth gets the Substance Serum

A chance meeting with a nurse brings Elizabeth into the plot of The substance

Part of what suggests that the serum’s creator has vast resources is the lengths that Elizabeth has to go through when she picks it up initially and what she has to go through to get refills of the serum. After being secretly informed about the procedure, an initially skeptical Elizabeth decides to try the process and contact the company. She is then forced to walk through downtown Los Angeles and walk through a derelict-looking area to walk Through a secret garage door.

Taking this path leads to a pristine clean room, where people can go through drop-boxes to collect their respective restrictions. All this underlines the secrecy of the process, because Elizabeth actually does not once during the work meet someone who is responsible for the serum. The whole process remains a well-funded and effective mystery. This opens up the idea that the serum has been quietly available for some timeLong enough at least for a system to be put in place for its maintenance and spread.

What happens when the substance is misused

like The substance Embraces body horror

The serum in The substance are fairly straightforward and have horrifying results when used incorrectly. It is repeatedly stressed to Elizabeth that she cannot spend more than seven days in the duplicate body. However, as the rift grows between Elizabeth and Sue, the latter ends up spending too much time awake. The comatose state of the original body then amplifies the aging process. Initially, Sue only abuses the system a little and stays in her body for a little too long – resulting in one of her fingers aging and decaying at a rapid rate.

However, prolonged periods where Sue does not return to Elizabeth’s body Result in the latter aging at an increased rate. Within months, she was severely damaged. However, it is even more dangerous for the duplicate to take the activator, which Sue does after killing Elizabeth and using up all the natural stabilizers created by her body. Literally falling apart without the Stabilizer, Sue uses the Activator to try to create a new copy. The hybrid form is a gruesome piece of body horror, highlighting the true risks of using the titular substance.

Why the substance is so scary

There are many uncomfortable elements about The substance

The titular compound in The substance is an effective horror. There is a surface horror associated with the sheer amount of body horror that it places characters in the film. From the film’s first bloody birth scene to the slow subsequent sequence of Sue needing to stitch up the unconscious Elizabeth’s back, The substance Keep the focus on the human body in a relaxed and open manner. The actual process of extracting setup is creepy because of the human source, and the results of misuse are classic horror film transformations.

The fact that the substance is seemingly so well-funded is unsettling in itself. The existence of others using the serum creates an uneasy tension around who might be involved in the process. Any number of people can use this substance, and whoever controls it wants to keep it a secret. There’s even some psychological horror baked into the concept, as Elizabeth’s splintering psyche as she becomes more resentful and distant from her alternate persona adds a cerebral level to the concept. The substance is a great horror concept and one that only gets scarier the more layers it gains.