THE SUBSTANCE

Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? You, only better in every way. You should try this new product; it’s called The Substance. It changed my life. With The Substance, you can generate another you: younger, more beautiful, more perfect. You just have to share time – one week for one, one week for the other. A perfect balance of seven days each... Easy right? If you respect the balance... What could possibly go wrong?

Demi Moore satirises Hollywood ageism in this audacious and gory feminist body horror that was the talk of this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Elisabeth Sparkle is a faded fifty something star who’s just been fired from her TV workout show by a sleazy executive. Then she learns about ‘The Substance’: a mysterious injection that “unlocks your DNA”, birthing a young, gorgeous version of yourself from your own spine. Of course, there’s a catch: every seven days, one body heads out into the world while the other enters recuperative stasis. So when Elisabeth’s ambitious younger self refuses to surrender her newfound fame, the elder begins paying the price … with a gruesome physical disintegration.


Director: Coralie Fargeat
Writer: Coralie Fargeat
Stars: Demi Moore | Dennis Quaid | Margaret Qualley