As someone who predominantly watches horror movies for fun and for a living, I feel confident in saying that some of the best movies of all time are horror movies, many of them modern horror movies. Why is it, then, that horror rarely gets the credit it deserves when it comes to awards season, particularly within voting bodies like the Academy?
It’s a constant frustration fans have contended with since the genre’s inception, though there has been marked improvement in the last few years especially, with a special shoutout to the purpose of this article: The Substance and its five nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Coralie Fargeat’s grotesque masterpiece garnering such widespread praise feels like a possible turning point for the genre. It’s not just that a horror film picked up such prestigious nominations; it’s that this specific one did. Those who have watched the movie know what I mean. It’s a gruesome and darkly hilarious body horror. A brutal skewering of our society's tortuous beauty culture and the systems that keep sexism alive and well in the entertainment industry.
Despite her success with her previous film Revenge, Fargeat initially struggled to get The Substance made because of its graphic nature. Studios showed resistance, and she didn't have the easiest time nailing down a distributor. But when the film finally premiered at Cannes to a 10-minute standing ovation, it suddenly received significantly more attention.
And to note, no, The Substance isn't the only horror film to receive Academy Awards attention, as movies like Nosferatu and Alien: Romulus received nods for production design, visual effects, and more, but it's not often that horror makes it into the acting and directing categories, and especially not the night's biggest award, which is Best Picture.
The Substance is the first horror movie nominated for Best Picture since Get Out
The Substance is one of only three horror movies to receive a Best Picture nomination in the past 25 years, and none of those nominations have been in the 2020s. Jordan Peele's Get Out received a nod at the 2018 Oscars, and before that Black Swan in 2011. Although Get Out won Best Screenplay and Natalie Portman took home the Best Actress statuette for Black Swan, neither managed to win Best Picture.
Other genre fare like Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Shape of Water, and Parasite have also won Best Picture, but while those three films might dabble in horror elements, none of them are full-on horror movies, though their wins certainly paved the way for a film like The Substance to come out on top.
How cool would it be to have a gonzo body horror win Best Picture, to become the first horror movie to win Best Picture since The Silence of the Lambs? At the very least, it would be great for a woman to win Best Director for a horror film, as Fargeat definitely deserves it, and Demi Moore also deserves Best Actress for her work. It's a shame Margaret Qualley was snubbed.
This has been a contentious awards season. Although 2024 featured dozens of fantastic films, many are questioning a few of the other nominees, such as divisive films like A Complete Unknown and Emilia Pérez, not to mention the recent controversy over the latter film and The Brutalist reportedly using AI to enhance accent work. The Substance is one of the few Best Picture nominees that people mostly agree deserves its spot, giving us something to rally behind this season.
Over the years, people have begun to label a certain type of film—usually biopics featuring an A-lister donning a wig and some prosthetics—into the "Oscar bait" category, creating a sense of apathy among film lovers who'd rather see more inventive films in the spotlight, and to them, The Substance feels like a breath of fresh air. A bold film like The Substance winning big on Oscar night would be an incredibly inspiring win at a time when creatives desperately need it.
The Substance is now streaming on Mubi. The Oscars will air on Sunday, March 2.