The Substance: Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), an ageing actor seeking to revive her career and her looks, along with reclaiming her fans, chooses poorly. Excessive gore and asininities ensue.

The movie explores themes of lost youth, the loneliness of fan forgetfulness, and mortality. The film attempts to find something new to say in re-imaging the 1992 movie: ‘Death Becomes Her’ starring Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, and Bruce Willis; but comes up with naught—nothing approaching sense or sensibility—just blood and guts substituting for substance.

Genre: Black Humor–Horror

Directed by: Corallie Fargeat

Screenplay by: Corallie Fargeat

Music by: Raffertie

Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid

Film Location: France

ElsBob: 3.0/10

IMDb: 7.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 90%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 74%

Metacritic Metascore: 78%

Metacritic User Score: 7.4/10

Theaters: 20 September 2024

Runtime: 141 minutes

Budget: $17.5 million

Box Office: $43.3 million

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic.Graphic: The Substance Movie Poster, copyright Mubi.