The Substance

The Substance is a 2024 body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, and starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid.

The film premiered on 19 May 2024 at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, and was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or in its main competition section, where Fargeat won the Best Screenplay award.

Synopsis
Elisabeth Sparkle, star of an aerobics show, is fired on her 50th birthday by her boss because of her age. When she returns home, her morale at its lowest, she receives an unexpected proposal. A mysterious laboratory offers her a miraculous "substance": if she injects it, she will become "the best version" of herself, "younger, more beautiful, more perfect".

Cast

 * Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle
 * Margaret Qualley as Sue
 * Dennis Quaid as Harvey
 * Hugo Diego Garcia
 * Phillip Schurer
 * Joseph Balderrama
 * Robin Greer

Production
In January 2022, it was announced that Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley would star in the film, with Working Title Films producing and Universal Pictures distributing. In February 2022, it was announced that Ray Liotta had joined the cast. Liotta died in May 2022, which led Fargeat to later recast the role with Dennis Quaid.

Filming was projected to begin in Paris in May 2022. In August 2022, Deadline Hollywood reported that the film was "currently in production." Later that same month, Qualley confirmed in an interview with W that she was currently doing work on the film. Filming officially wrapped in October 2022.

Release
The Substance was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 19 May 2024. The film received a standing ovation with conflicting reports that it lasted either nine minutes, 11 minutes or 13 minutes.

Prior to, Mubi acquired worldwide rights to the film, planning to distribute it theatrically in North America, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Latin America, Benelux as well as holding rights for Turkey and India, while its subsidiary The Match Factory will handle sales elsewhere. Metropolitan Filmexport acquired French distribution rights from The Match Factory. The film was originally set to be distributed by Universal Pictures.

Critical response
The Substance received acclaim from critics after it’s Cannes premiere.

David Ehrlich of IndieWire graded the film an A, calling it "an epic, audacious body horror masterpiece... an instant classic. The most sickly entertaining theatrical experience of the year".

Nicholas Barber of the BBC awarded the film four stars out of five, while singling out Moore's performance: "Ripping into her best big-screen role in decades, Demi Moore is fearless in parodying her public image."

Phil de Semlyen's five star review in Time Out says it is "Moore who glues it all together, going full Isabelle Adjani-in-Possession in a vanity-free performance full of bruised ego, dawning horror and vulnerability".

Owen Gleiberman in Variety praised the film's director: "Coralie Fargeat works with the flair of a grindhouse Kubrick in a weirdly fun, cathartically grotesque fusion of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Showgirls."

Radhika Seth in Vogue called it "audacious piece of filmmaking... the most exciting release to have debuted on the Croisette so far" and that it was her "current pick to win the Palme d'Or".

Damon Wise in Deadline said it is "a riotous, dreamlike horror-thriller that ends in a delirious symphony of blood, guts and otherwise undefinable viscera".

Peter Bradshaw's 4-star review in The Guardian called it "a cheerfully silly and outrageously indulgent piece of gonzo body-horror comedy".