Soon, you’ll be able to inject one of the best horror movies (and movies in general) of 2024 at home. The Substance will begin streaming on Mubi on October 31. Get your Monstro Elisasue costumes ready.
Directed and written by Coralie Fargeat, The Substance stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, the host of a fitness show who gets fired on her 50th birthday. Following an accident, she begins taking “The Substance,” a mysterious serum that promises a “younger, more beautiful, more perfect” version of whoever takes it. Elisabeth’s other self is Sue, played by Charli XCX fan Margaret Qualley, and they’re supposed to “switch” bodies every seven days. But things don’t go as planned. The climax is… something else.
Qualley spoke to the Los Angeles Times about training for months for The Substance. But all that weight lifting shaped her physicality in a way that she didn’t expect. “We’re representing perfect, right?” she said. “And the movie has a pretty inspired message. So I also thought it was important for that perfect to be healthy, even if it’s unrealistic. I’m fortunate that the naked stuff was at the top because throughout the five months my ass was just slowly deflating.” Moore joked, “I did admire how round Margaret’s ass was.”
You can see Mubi’s streaming announcement for The Substance post here.