The Substance is a 2024 body horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. It follows a fading celebrity, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) who, after being fired by her producer (Dennis Quaid) due to her age, uses a black market drug that creates a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley) with unexpected side effects.
Noted for its satirical elements and grotesque, hyperrealistic imagery, The Substance is Fargeat's second feature film, after Revenge. Motivated by societal pressures on women's bodies and aging, she wrote the screenplay over two years, assembling a team to co-produce the film between France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Principal photography in France lasted 108 days. It made extensive use of prosthetic makeup designed by Pierre-Olivier Persin and primarily practical effects; these included suits, puppetry, dummies, insert shots, and approximately 21,000 liters (5,500 US gallons) of fake blood to portray Elisabeth's drug-induced transformation. The film score was written by Raffertie and features a cover of "Pump It Up!" by DJ Endor.
The Substance premiered on May 19, 2024 at the 77th Cannes Film Festival main competition, where Fargeat won Best Screenplay. It was released theatrically in the United Kingdom and the United States by Mubi on September 20, 2024, and in France by Metropolitan Filmexport on November 6, 2024. At the box office, the film grossed $77 million on a $17.5 million production budget and became Mubi's highest-grossing film. It was a critical success and received numerous accolades, including five nominations each at the 97th Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and the 82nd Golden Globe Awards (including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy). For her performance, Moore won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and earned Best Actress nominations at the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
On her fiftieth birthday, Elisabeth Sparkle, a once-celebrated but now-faded Academy Award-winning Hollywood film star, is abruptly dismissed from her long-running aerobics TV show by the producer, Harvey, due to her age. A distraught Elisabeth crashes her car while distracted by a billboard of herself being taken down. At the hospital, a young nurse covertly gives her a flash drive advertising "The Substance", a black market drug that promises a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of oneself.
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