The Substance

Reviews

• "It’s the casting of Moore, though, and her willingness to denude herself at 61 – emotionally, as well as physically – that gives The Substance a startling connection with its themes. Not for 30 years has she owned a film with anything like this certitude. Watching her confront the Demi Moore in the mirror, and do it so mercilessly, is extraordinary."
  - The Telegraph
• "The tone is incredibly specific – darkly funny, exuberant, sad and enraged – and the small cast nails it."
  - Time Outx
• "An immensely, unstoppably, ecstatically demented fairy tale about female self-hatred, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance will stop at nothing — and I mean nothing — to explode the ruthless beauty standards that society has inflicted upon women for thousands of years."
  - IndieWire
• "A bold dissection on aging and self-hatred Fargeat’s latest work is an utter visual marvel and features superb performances from its lead actresses; Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley."
  - The Playlist
• "In its trashiness – and, yes, its refusal of serious substance – THE SUBSTANCE should really be put out on VHS cassettes and watched at home in homage to the great era of home entertainment pulp and video-store masterpieces of weirdness and crassness."
  - The Guardian