The Substance

Elizabeth Sparkle (a phenomenal Demi Moore) is a fading celebrity forced into early retirement because of her age. When a mysterious, black market opportunity arises that promises her a younger, better version of herself, Elizabeth takes ‘the substance’ that plunges her headlong into a surreal nightmare of duplicitous doppelgangers and full-blown body horror.

Coralie Fargeat delivers on the promise of her excellent debut Revenge (2017) with this demented and grotesque fairytale. Demi Moore is phenomenal and her co-star Margaret Qualley is just as game. The practical effects are jaw-dropping and Fargeat creates a candy-coloured world of gleaming, clean surfaces that she doesn’t take long to spray with blood and viscera. Think David Cronenberg’s The Fly meets All About Eve.