"The Substance" is a dark modern fable that starts out blaming men for reducing women to sex objects and then cuts deeper. Fargeat saves a special rage for women who conspire in their own diminishment, trading their soul in a pulse beat for a few more shining hours as a goddess.

When it comes to upcoming horror movies, one of this year’s best may be hitting theaters this weekend, with Demi Moore ’s body horror flick The Substance causing quite a stir amongst critics since its premiere at Cannes.

The actress stars alongside Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid in Coralie Fargeat’s gleefully grotesque movie about an aging celebrity who takes an experimental drug that gives her a younger self.

The Substance” blowtorches a single idea for two hours and 20 minutes, and narratively it turns to ashes by minute 40. It’s easier for a movie to become a talking point that way. Film festival buzz, which “The Substance” enjoyed at its Cannes world premiere,

Finally, “The Substance” is very much a woman’s movie. The way writer-director Coralie Fargeat presents Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley — the matter-of-fact way in which she films their bodies, and the trust that she elicits from them — has the unmistakable stamp of a woman director. This is obvious within minutes.

Directed and written by Coralie Fargeat, the film follows the story of TV star and aerobics instructor Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore), who is fired from her own show on her 50th birthday by her boss, Dennis Quaid's cartoonishly misogynist TV exec Harvey – a not-even-slightly-subtle iteration of disgraced abuser Harvey Weinstein.

Demi Moore was joined by daughters Tallulah, Scout and Rumer Willis at the Los Angeles premiere of "The Substance."

In Coralie Fargeat’s body horror shocker The Substance, Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former A-lister who is unceremoniously fired from her fitness TV show by a loathsome studio boss, played by Dennis Quaid.

Coralie Fargeat’s sci-fi shocker follows the downward spiral of a 50-year-old movie star who resorts to drastic measures

Demi Moore’s new film “The Substance” recently received a 13-minute standing ovation at Cannes, proving her worth as one of the most decorated actresses in Hollywood. Moore was also mentioned by Variety and People magazine as a sure nominee for the Oscars 2025.