There's nothing more terrifying than aging, at least that's what women have been conditioned to believe, from normalizing lying about our age to being advertised a flurry of anti-aging products and procedures. In Coralie Fargeat's film starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, the filmmaker is relentless in her pushback to the way women's bodies are scrutinized and objectified. At the core of the movie is one question, if you had the opportunity to create a more desirable version of yourself, someone considered more valuable in society and, essentially, "perfect," would you do it? Really leaning into body-horror elements, Fargeat explores what it means to say "yes" to that question.
In theatres Sept. 20 Coralie Fargeat Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid 141 minutes is set around the character Elisabeth Sparkle, played by Moore. She's an award-winning actor but in more recent years Elisabeth has transitioned her career to fitness TV.
Despite the success of her show, studio head Harvey (Dennis Quaid) is ready to replace Elisabeth with a younger woman, someone he sees as more beautiful and desirable. After losing her job and ending up in an unfortunate car accident, Elisabeth is presented with a unique opportunity. Through a black market procedure, which involves the injection of a drug called "The Substance," Elisabeth can create a younger version of herself to live out in the world.
But there are rules that come with this procedure. Both versions of Elisabeth do not ex.