The Substance

Part body horror and part treatise on societal pressures of women over the age of 40, The Substance stars Demi Moore as a fading Hollywood celebrity now host of a morning exercise hour about to be replaced by the lecherous producer (Dennis Quaid). Learning of an experimental procedure where she might recapture her youth, Elisabeth (Moore) takes "the Substance" and emerges from the husk of her body as the distinctly different Sue (Margaret Qualley) whose beauty quickly reopens all the doors closed to her older self. However, in order for this miracle to work, Sue and Elisabeth share consciousness, each a week at a time when the other is unconscious with any negative or selfish action by one potentially hurting the other.

Starting with the performances of both women, there's quite a bit to like about The Substance. which has style to spare and goes all in on the body horror aspects of the film (it's certainly not a film for the squeamish). Never shying away from a challenging role, Moore's foray into body horror is certainly memorable, one could even argue shocking, and for those unfamiliar with Qualley this is sure to make a great first impression. There are some negatives, mostly in the film's sledgehammer style racing full-speed away from anything resembling subtlety such as the walking caricature played by Dennis Quaid and the film's final half-hour that hammers home its mission statement with a veracity that literally leaves its subject pounded into pulp.

• Title: The Substance
• IMDb: link