The Substance review: Demi Moore in best film of her career

The Substance | ★★★★★

There were plenty of standing ovations at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, but one film in particular had everyone buzzing. Coralie Fargeat, who came to prominence with her 2017 thriller Revenge, blew audiences away with her latest piece, The Substance. 

Set in a garish, 80s-style Hollywood, Demi Moore stars as Elizabeth Sparkle, the host of a fitness show. Her 50th birthday sees her abruptly fired for being “too old”, with ads put out for a replacement. The distraught celebrity is contacted by a shadowy organisation offering a black market drug called The Substance. The serum allows Elizabeth to birth a younger, idealised version of herself, with her consciousness switching between the two every seven days. Although she finds renewed success as the younger Sue (Margaret Qualley), the body swaps soon take their toll. 

Fargeat swings for the fences with an outlandish mash up of Jekyll and Hyde, Showgirls, and All About Eve. The director takes us to a world that is both fascinating and repulsive. At first, it seems ridiculous to see Moore, looking better at 61 than most do at 20, being derided for being ugly. Yet, that’s kind of the point, as the script offers a twisted endgame to society’s obsession with youth.

The message about the pursuit of perfection literally eating the self is delivered bluntly, with Moore writhing in a squidgy puddle as she births Qualley in one of the film’s many gasp-worthy moments. There’s an unrelenting urgency to the film that brings to mind Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem For A Dream. Love it or hate it, you will walk away stunned. 

Having already impressed in recent TV drama Feud: Capote Vs The Swans, Moore steps it up with the best performance of her career. Throwing herself into the ugliness of the part both physically and metaphorically, she subverts her glamorous image. Qualley is fun as the giggling but sinister younger self, while Quaid is delightfully creepy. 

The Substance will require a strong stomach and a taste for the extreme, but beneath the gore is one of the most intelligent horrors you will see this year. While Oscar season may be a few months away, voters would do well to keep Moore in mind.