Substance, The

The Substance

Credits
Title:	The Substance
Director:	Coralie Fargeat
Writers:	Coralie Fargeat
Producers:	Nicolas Royer; Alexandra Loewy; Eric Fellner; Tim Began; Coralie Fargeat; Claire O'Neill; Jon Finn
Composer:	Raffertie
Cinematography:	Benjamin Kračun
Editors:	Jérôme Eltabet; Coralie Fargeat; Valentin Féron
Production
Production company:	Blacksmith A Good Story Working Title Films
Released:	May 19th, 2024
Rating:	R
Running time:	141 min.
Country:	USA France United Kingdom
Language:	English
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The Substance is an American, French and English co-produced feature film of the psychological thriller subgenre of horror with an emphasis on body horror. It was written and directed by Coralie Fargeat. It was produced by Working Title Films, Blacksmith, and A Good Story. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19th, 2024.

Plot[]

Cast[]

Actor	Role
Demi Moore	Elisasbeth
Margaret Qualley	Sue
Dennis Quaid	Harvey
Edward Hamilton Clark	Fred
Gore Abrams	Oliver
Oscar Lesasge	Troy
Christian Erickson	Man at diner
Robin Greer	Male nurse
Tom Morton	Doctor
Hugo Diego Garcia	Diego - boyfriend
Daniel Knight	Casting director
Jonathan Carley	Assistant casting director
Jiselle Henderkott	Girl auditioning/dancer
Akil Wingate	TV host
Billy Bentley	Man in suit #1
Vincent Colombe	Man in suit #2
Lennard Ridsdale	Man in suit #3
Jordan Ford Silver	AD - Pump It Up
Oscar Salem	2nd AD - Pump It Up
Viviane Bossina	Sue's assistant
Matthew Luret	Floor runner
Jana Bitternova	Maria
Olivier Raynal	Alan - 2nd agent
Tiffany Hofstetter	Stylist
Nicolas Royer	Guy in the elevator
Nathan Rippy	Assistant director
Manon Arizmendi	Little girl
Virginie Ourdouiller	Mother - New Year's Eve show
Brett Gillen	Director of photography
Charlotte Marquardt	Screaming woman
Lea Hengl	Screaming woman
Gaelle Raymond	Screaming woman
Claire Lemaire	Screaming woman
Lila Boughoufala	Screaming woman
Aurelien Lorgnier	Screaming man
Yvan Sellier	Screaming man
Philip Schurer	Screaming man
Christian Bourmier	Shareholder
Martin Graham	Shareholder
Christian Bordeleau	Shareholder
Patrick Hamel	Shareholder
Didier D'Hondt	Shareholder
Jean-Claude Matthey	Shareholder
Olivier Jarcin	Shareholder
Jean-Luc Magneron	Shareholder
Charlotte Murray	Allison - diner waitress

Notes & Trivia[]

The tagline to this film is "If you follow the instructions, what could go wrong?"
Production on The Substance began on May 3rd, 2022. Pre-production concluded on May 22nd, 2022 with principal filming commencing in August and concluding in October. ^[1]
On Rotten Tomatoes, The Substance holds a 90% certified fresh score on the Tomatometer based on 319 critic reviews. It has 288 positive reviews and 31 negative reviews. The film has a Popcornmeter score of 74% based on more than 1,000 verified user ratings.
On Letterboxd, The Substance has a weighted average review score of 3.91 out of 5 based on 939,9323 user ratings.
The Substance was named #2 on Bloody Disgusting's Top 15 Best Horror Movies of 2024.
Demi Moore won the Golden Globe award for the category of Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy for this film in 2025. The film was also nominated for the categories of Best Motion Picture. Director Coralie Fargeat was nominated for Best Screenplay and Margaret Qualley was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
The character of Elizabeth Sparkles celebrates her 50th birthday in this film. Actress Demi Moore was actually 59-years-old when she played the role.
Lizzie Sparkles' client number is 503. The nurse's client number is 207.
The Substance was nominated for five categories at the 97th Academy Awards ceremony, held in Los Angeles, California on March 2nd, 2025. It won for the category of Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, but lost to Anora. Coralie Fargeat was nominated for Best Director, but lost to Sean Baker for Anora. Demi Moore was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, but lost to Mikey Madison for Anora. It was nominated for Best Picture, but lost out to... you guessed it... Anora.