New Delhi:
Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley’s body horror thriller The Substance is coming soon to a streaming platform. The film, written and directed by Coralie Fargeat, had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2024 where it received an 11-minute standing ovation and the filmmaker won the best screenplay award. The Substance hit the theatres in the UK and United States in September. Now, the makers have announced that the film will be available to stream on Mubi from October 31. In a post shared on Instagram, they wrote, “Be careful what you wish for. THE SUBSTANCE is now in theatres. Streaming exclusively on Mubi from October 31 in the US, UK, Latin America, Germany, Turkey, Canada, India and more. A MUBI Release. Starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley. A MUBI Release.”
The Substance features Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, who is the ageing host of a TV aerobics program. She is fired from her show after turning 50, provoking her to inject herself with a life-changing serum in the hopes of becoming a younger, more attractive version of herself. Sue, played by Margaret Qualley, comes to life leading the life Demi’s Elisabeth no longer believes she can. However, things go completely wrong when the strict guidelines for using the substance are broken. The film offers a warning that strikes a deep chord in today’s culture as it delves into concepts of identity and the consequences of desire.
Talking about her role in The Substance, Demi Moore told BBC, “It was a completely unique, out-of-the-box script, you could tell it was visually stimulating and at the same time, we had no idea how it would end up, which made it even more risky and juicy.”
She added, “I felt like that was why I wanted to do it, in a way. Part of what made it interesting was going to such a raw, vulnerable place, to really kind of peel away. And it was quite liberating in many respects.”
Apart from Demi and Margaret, The Substance features a talented ensemble cast of Dennis Quaid, Edward Hamilton Clark, Gore Abrams, Oscar Lesage and Yann Bean. The film is produced by Coralie Fargeat in collaboration with industry veterans Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, while Alexandra Loewy and Nicolas Royer serve as executive producers.
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