Shocking New Trailer Released for Demi Moore’s “The Substance”

One of the titles that’s been burning up the film festival circuit is The Substance from filmmaker Coralie Fargeat. The film has just earned an all-new trailer. Fans of Fargeat’s previous film, Revenge, which garnered praise from genre audiences before landing on the streaming service Shudder, will likely not be surprised by the enthusiasm surrounding her latest project. A standout element of this new film is the performance by star Demi Moore, who is not typically associated with horror but has been earning accolades for her role. The new trailer for The Substance can be viewed below before its theatrical release on September 20th.

The movie is described as follows: “Demi Moore gives a career-best performance as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former A-lister past her prime and suddenly fired from her fitness TV show by repellent studio head Harvey (Dennis Quaid). She is then drawn to the opportunity presented by a mysterious new drug: THE SUBSTANCE. All it takes is one injection and she is reborn — temporarily — as the gorgeous, twentysomething Sue (Margaret Qualley). The only rule? Time needs to be split: exactly one week in one body, then one week in the other. No exceptions. A perfect balance. What could go wrong? Deliriously entertaining and ruthlessly satirical, Coralie Fargeat’s Cannes sensation turns toxic beauty culture inside out with a be-careful-what-you-wish-for fable for the ages. Explosive, provocative, and twisted, The Substance marks the arrival of a thrillingly visionary filmmaker.”

The movie currently sits at 90% positive reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, and that’s only based on limited screenings around the world. As the film festival season heats up in the coming months and The Substance screens for more audiences, it’s possible the numbers could pivot in one direction, though with nearly 50 reviews already being tallied, it likely won’t see significant changes that drastically alter its aggregated score.

Over at The Daily Beast, Esther Zuckerman wrote of The Substance, “When I say The Substance, the Demi Moore-starring movie that rocked Cannes, is bloody that’s an understatement. Take the amount of blood you think could be in this movie and double it. No, triple it. At one point during the run time, you will think you have seen the bloodiest part, but just you wait. It gets bloodier. And yet the blood isn’t even the part of this wonderfully batsh-t body horror spectacular that had me almost throwing up. It’s a symphony of lurching flesh that might have you both gagging and cheering. The audience at my press screening of Cannes certainly did. We whooped, we gasped, and we clapped. It’s the grossest thing you will see all year.”

The Substance hits theaters on September 20th.

Source: ComicBook.com, The Daily Beast