Thrills, emotions, blood and nudity as Demi Moore stars in body horror

Film review: The Substance (18) - seen at The Light Cinema, Wisbech

Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid

Run time: Two hours, 21 minutes Director: Coralie Fargeat

Hollywood great Demi Moore puts in one of her best-ever performances in this body horror thriller.

Moore is superb as the fading celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle, who takes a black-market cell-replicating drug that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself.

For a week the young, beautiful and vivacious Sue (Qualley) is loved wherever she goes - especially by the men in the TV industry - while Elisabeth lays dormant in the bathroom. After a week is up, the roles are reversed and back comes Elisabeth.

Eventually, the two characters come to hate each other, and when Sue decides she is enjoying life so much that she’ll outstay her allotted seven days, the horror begins.

The Substance has won praise everywhere since its release but I don’t believe it’s quite as good as it could be. It is awful how some women are treated in the film industry once they get past a ‘certain age,’ but to demonstrate that fact, director Fargeal reverts to the cracking a walnut with a sledgehammer routine.

Quaid’s Harvey is overly grotesque and the numerous different shots of Sue’s perfect face and body are a bit overdone. We get, it, she’s everything that Elisabeth once was and still craves to be.

But having said that, the movie is a rollercoaster of thrills and emotions (plus lots of blood and nudity), building up to a horrifying and yet satisfying climax.

By Jeremy Ransome

Rating: 7/10