The first trailer for the new Margaret Qualley body horror film The Substance has been released – check it out below.
The film, which also stars Demi Moore and Dennis Quaid, picked up the Best Screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Moore plays Elisabeth Sparkle, the star of an aerobics show who is fired on her 50th birthday due to her age. Upon returning home, she is offered a miraculous “substance” that promises to make her “younger, more beautiful, more perfect”.
See the teaser trailer for the film below:
The film, which is directed by Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) and has been compared to work by David Lynch and David Cronenberg, is set for a cinema release in the UK and US on September 20, thanks to distributors Mubi.
Several horror fans have been sharing their eagerness to see the film, with one X user writing: “The Substance is easily my most anticipated film now I can’t fucking wait”.
The Substance is easily my most anticipated film now I can’t fucking wait pic.twitter.com/qmnazis7pv
— gary (@gothspaeny) July 11, 2024
Clayton Davis, the senior awards editor of Variety, wrote that he believes the film includes “the best performance of Demi Moore’s career y’all”.
The best performance of Demi Moore’s career ya’ll. https://t.co/yq3mshbVF5
— Clayton Davis (@ByClaytonDavis) July 11, 2024
See other responses to the teaser trailer here:
i will be there https://t.co/aghcRVE8iT pic.twitter.com/bxs3uui0u8
— d (@filmvirgo) July 11, 2024
really really looking forward to this https://t.co/HUPXGxmZMT pic.twitter.com/uzrIeoPSXd
— meez. (@abortedamyadams) July 11, 2024
demi moore in a body horror flick ooh yes https://t.co/2hgG7o2zNs
— marquise 🦴 (@boorginal) July 11, 2024
The film has been received with rave reviews, sitting at a 93% score on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. “Audaciously gross, wickedly clever, and possibly Demi Moore’s finest hour, The Substance is a gasp-inducing feat from writer-director Coralie Fargeat,” reads the site’s critics consensus.
Earlier this year, Qualley co-directed the music video for Bleachers’ single ‘Tiny Moves’, the band led by her husband Jack Antonoff.
Qualley also appears in the video, stopping in front of a car parked by the Hudson River at dawn before launching into a dance sequence which she also choreographed. At the end of the clip, Qualley walks over to the driver of the car – Antonoff himself – and the pair embrace as the sun rises over New York City.