Now that Revenge director Coralie Fargeat’s body horror satire, The Substance, is available to stream exclusively on MUBI, the main cast members have been sharing some spoiler-y behind-the-scenes photos to social media.
The story focuses on an acclaimed actress turned celebrity host of a daytime exercise program (Demi Moore) who gets replaced by a younger star, sparking a confrontation between the two women that ultimately turns violent.
That's the basic outline. If you want the very gory details, spoilers will follow.
Moore's character, Elizabeth Sparkle, makes use of a secret cell replicating procedure to produce a younger, "more perfect" version of herself, Sue, played by Margaret Qualley.
Ignoring the warning that they "are one," Sue begins to "disrespect the balance" after getting a taste of fame and decides not to wake Sparkle up, while continuing to extract the serum from her older self's body needed to maintain her survival. Elizabeth begins to age rapidly, ultimately becoming a shrivelled husk.
When the fluid dries up, Sue begins to fall apart (literally), and is forced to wake Liz, resulting in a brutal fight.
Sue is ultimately able to kill her older self in vicious fashion, but with no more serum, she takes the drastic measure of injecting what remains of the one-use-only Activator. This creates a grotesque hybrid mutant (named "Monstro Elisasue" in the subtitles), with protruding limbs and Sparkle's face left fused into its back in a permanent scream.
Qualley recently shared a BTS look at herself in full prosthetics as the nightmarish clone, and Moore has now posted some shots of her own.
These photos show Moore in her "old woman" guise, and they are hilarious and pretty damn disturbing in equal measure!
“I walked away from it with a certain sense of liberation within myself,” Moore said of her graphic nude scenes in the movie. “I knew there were going to be shots that highlighted my flaws, but those allowed me to find acceptance and appreciation in myself. It was about surrendering. I had to let go of any parts of me that value perfection.”
In related news, THR recently reported that The Substance has been submitted for Golden Globes consideration as a musical/comedy, rather than a drama.
"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?"