section_path: Production/Conception and screenplay
section_name: Conception and screenplay
paragraph_text: Conception and screenplay
  
  After the critical success of Revenge (2017) in the United States, Fargeat was in contention to direct studio films including the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Widow (2021). However, the prospect of a studio film did not appeal to her, as she would not receive final cut privilege. Fargeat spent several months in Los Angeles following the release of Revenge, and began writing the first scenes of The Substance, as a spec script, at a coffee shop in Silver Lake; she became a producer to maintain creative control. Eric Fellner, who co-produced the film, traveled to Paris several times for lunch with Fargeat after seeing Revenge in 2017 to persuade her to choose Working Title for her next project. The screenplay was developed over two years, loosely inspired by her short Reality+ (2014), with the entire production taking five years from concept to release. Written in both English and French, the script featured descriptions in French, though the film was written with English-speaking audiences in mind to ensure a wider appeal.
  
  Fargeat aimed to continue the feminist themes developed in Revenge including what it means to be a woman. She began writing the film in her 40s, a period when she was confronting negative thoughts about her relevance and appearance. "I really started to think and these voices in my head like, 'Now your life is over. No one is going to care about you.'" She described the process of making the film as a way to confront and release this internalized violence tied to societal expectations about women's bodies and aging, using the body horror genre as a "weapon of expression".
  
  Fargeat crafted the 146-page script with a scant 29 pages dedicated to dialogue. She has described her writing style as like writing a novel. She wrote the script in extensive detail; every sensory experience the audience would feel in the final film including sounds (with onomatopoeia like " splosh " and " aaagh ") and sometimes even specified close-ups were written in the script.
  
  People often ask if my characters are caricatures, and my first instinct is to say 'yes.' Then I think, 'no, no, they're not caricatures.' Unfortunately, they are behaviors that have existed and continue to exist. Here, they're just brought to the forefront and presented openly. In real life, it's not always as obvious—although sometimes it is.
  
  Similarly, she chose to omit character backstories, preferring to reveal information through actions, locations, and attire. For example, colors were written into the script to symbolize character traits — Elisabeth Sparkle's yellow jacket representing a "superhero-like" quality before her transformation, and Sue's pink leotard signifying her femininity. The character Sue, described as blonde in a 2020 draft of the script, was given her namesake to subconsciously evoke Lolita and Marilyn Monroe, "baby-doll"-like iconography, and classic beauty standards that continue to endure. Fargeat chose the name Elisabeth for its "iconic resonance" with stars of Old Hollywood, and Sparkle because of its associations with happiness and to "shine and be under the light".
  
  Fargeat conceived the pivotal birth scene, in which Sue emerges from Elisabeth's back, while in the shower. It was the first that she wrote, and in her view, "the most important scene of the film". She recalls, "I didn't even know who my character would be. It's the first one that really came to my mind, and it holds the core DNA of the movie as a true visceral experience with no words, making you feel what the characters are going to feel". Fargeat later decided that the main character should be an actress to explore societal perceptions of bodies. She chose to have Elisabeth Sparkle host an aerobics class, inspired by Jane Fonda 's transition from a successful actress to her second career starring in exercise tapes.
  
  Fargeat listened to a variety of music to influence the screenplay. She cited Mica Levi 's score for Under the Skin (2013), and other experimental music and composers that had "this kind of heartbeat or pulsation... related to the heartbeat of the new human being or the way you can feel with your body". Fargeat also listened to hypersexualized music to influence the in-universe Pump It Up show.
  
  After the critical success of Revenge (2017) in the United States, Fargeat was in contention to direct studio films including the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Black Widow (2021). However, the prospect of a studio film did not appeal to her, as she would not receive final cut privilege. Fargeat spent several months in Los Angeles following the release of Revenge, and began writing the first scenes of The Substance, as a spec script, at a coffee shop in Silver Lake; she became a producer to maintain creative control. Eric Fellner, who co-produced the film, traveled to Paris several times for lunch with Fargeat after seeing Revenge in 2017 to persuade her to choose Working Title for her next project. The screenplay was developed over two years, loosely inspired by her short Reality+ (2014), with the entire production taking five years from concept to release. Written in both English and French, the script featured descriptions in French, though the film was written with English-speaking audiences in mind to ensure a wider appeal.
  
  Fargeat aimed to continue the feminist themes developed in Revenge including what it means to be a woman. She began writing the film in her 40s, a period when she was confronting negative thoughts about her relevance and appearance. "I really started to think and these voices in my head like, 'Now your life is over. No one is going to care about you.'" She described the process of making the film as a way to confront and release this internalized violence tied to societal expectations about women's bodies and aging, using the body horror genre as a "weapon of expression".
  
  Fargeat crafted the 146-page script with a scant 29 pages dedicated to dialogue. She has described her writing style as like writing a novel. She wrote the script in extensive detail; every sensory experience the audience would feel in the final film including sounds (with onomatopoeia like " splosh " and " aaagh ") and sometimes even specified close-ups were written in the script.
  
  People often ask if my characters are caricatures, and my first instinct is to say 'yes.' Then I think, 'no, no, they're not caricatures.' Unfortunately, they are behaviors that have existed and continue to exist. Here, they're just brought to the forefront and presented openly. In real life, it's not always as obvious—although sometimes it is.
  
  Similarly, she chose to omit character backstories, preferring to reveal information through actions, locations, and attire. For example, colors were written into the script to symbolize character traits — Elisabeth Sparkle's yellow jacket representing a "superhero-like" quality before her transformation, and Sue's pink leotard signifying her femininity. The character Sue, described as blonde in a 2020 draft of the script, was given her namesake to subconsciously evoke Lolita and Marilyn Monroe, "baby-doll"-like iconography, and classic beauty standards that continue to endure. Fargeat chose the name Elisabeth for its "iconic resonance" with stars of Old Hollywood, and Sparkle because of its associations with happiness and to "shine and be under the light".
  
  Fargeat conceived the pivotal birth scene, in which Sue emerges from Elisabeth's back, while in the shower. It was the first that she wrote, and in her view, "the most important scene of the film". She recalls, "I didn't even know who my character would be. It's the first one that really came to my mind, and it holds the core DNA of the movie as a true visceral experience with no words, making you feel what the characters are going to feel". Fargeat later decided that the main character should be an actress to explore societal perceptions of bodies. She chose to have Elisabeth Sparkle host an aerobics class, inspired by Jane Fonda 's transition from a successful actress to her second career starring in exercise tapes.
  
  Fargeat listened to a variety of music to influence the screenplay. She cited Mica Levi 's score for Under the Skin (2013), and other experimental music and composers that had "this kind of heartbeat or pulsation... related to the heartbeat of the new human being or the way you can feel with your body". Fargeat also listened to hypersexualized music to influence the in-universe Pump It Up show.