Spoilers!!!  SUMMARY:

A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

THE SUBSTANCE:

Elisa started to hate herself when the director of the program she worked for said he wanted to fire her, claiming she was too old and ugly for a gymnastics program. This reveals that appearance only matters to fit into a pattern of extremely young, white women, with thick thighs and extremely thin waists, resembling an unreal Barbie doll. With the use of the substance, Sue wanted to live and do what she desired because she was young. They are the same people; she hated herself and sacrificed everything from her "old" self to live longer, new, and beautiful. At the height of her fame, she still didn’t feel accepted. Often, we sacrifice our future to enhance our present, thinking there will be no consequences.

She kills Elisa and doesn’t realize that she is, in fact, killing herself. She hates herself and her future, not understanding that her future is her own self, even though she despises it. Sue is Elisa, and Elisa is Sue; Elisa hates being herself, and Sue hates being Elisa for seven days. When Elisa realizes that Sue is exaggerating and quickly destroying her, she starts asserting her presence, saying that she can control it too, taking everything out on food and destroying her apartment while trying to express, "I’m here too; remember that I’m you as well."

Remember that this is my vision for this very realistic and revealing film titled The Substance.