If you've seen The Substance, you'll know that it's not exactly the type of film that's crying out for a spin-off or a sequel. Still, in an era when studios will attempt to milk every successful release for every dime they can drag out of 'em, it's probably fair to wonder whether a follow-up to the acclaimed body-horror satire has been discussed.
Fortunately, a sequel is not on the cards - at least not according to director Coralie Fargeat.
The filmmaker was asked about the possibility of more movies set in the "Substance universe" during a recent interview with Variety.
“The point of this movie to bring fresh things to the world. No sequels, no prequels… I’m going to be happy to bring something fresh to the world in a bit.”
Star Demi Moore won a Golden Globe for her performance on Sunday night, and you can check out her inspiring acceptance speech below.
Even if Mubi/Working Title wanted to develop a sequel with a different director, it would almost certainly be without Moore and co-star Margaret Qualley, whose characters (or should that be character?) are pretty definitively killed off at the end of the movie.
After Sue (Qualley) dispatches Elizabeth (Moore), she realizes that she can no longer extract any serum from her older self, and decides to inject the one-use only activator serum. This creates a grotesque "Monstro Elisasue" hybrid, who ultimately comes to a messy end.
"So at that point, I am in layers and layers and layers of prosthetics," said Qualley in a recent interview. "I’ve had it glued to my face. I can’t see out of one eye, I can only see out of this eye. I can’t hear. My head is [tilted to the side]. My arms are glued to my body. The only thing I can move is my right hand, and I’ve just also burnt my hair. All of this stuff is practical. All of this stuff is real. We’re doing it in real time. I’m really frying the hair. I’m really popping the earring in. And it’s kind of a race because it takes so long to organize those moments because of how elaborate the prosthetics are that it’s a quite simple shot, but I think by that time I’d really understood the… It was at the very end of the shoot, the musicality of the film. And there is such a kind of beat to it. The volume of the performance is so high. You’re really accelerating. And so you know that by that moment that it’s almost like being a human within a cartoon world."
Check out Qualley's recent BTS photos at the link below.
"Have you ever dreamed of a better version of yourself? You should try this new product: The Substance. It changed my life. With The Substance, you can generate another version of yourself: younger, more beautiful, more perfect… Just share the time. One week for one, one week for the other. A perfect balance of seven days. Easy, isn’t it? If you follow the instructions, what could go wrong?"