Coralie Fargeat's 'The Substance' Explores Feminist Themes Through Body Horror

The film, starring Demi Moore, critiques societal beauty standards and has garnered significant acclaim at Cannes and TIFF.

Coralie Fargeat's 'The Substance' won the TIFF People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award and has sparked fervent discussions since its Cannes premiere.
The film stars Demi Moore as Elizabeth Sparkle, an actress who uses a black-market treatment to alternate between her older self and a younger version, played by Margaret Qualley.
Fargeat's script, influenced by her own feelings of obsolescence, delivers a merciless critique of societal beauty standards and hyper-sexualization.
The movie employs bold visuals, pulsating music, and minimal dialogue to convey its themes, drawing inspiration from body-horror titans like David Cronenberg.
Fargeat emphasizes the importance of body horror as a means to express the violence of societal pressures on women, aiming to create a liberating narrative.