Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? One of the most-discussed films coming out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival was Coralie Fargeat’s Revenge follow-up The Substance, a body horror feature that picked up Best Screenplay. Starring Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, and Dennis Quaid, the wild first teaser trailer has now arrived ahead of MUBI’s September 20 theatrical release.
Luke Hicks said in his review, “Qualley and Moore are naked for a large part of the film, lending their figures––twisted, contorted, dragged, deformed, depicted in extreme close-ups, and thematically sexualized––to a movie that’s making some very strong, unpopular claims about a woman’s body image in the 21st century. Fargeat’s overarching perspective on Sparkle’s hellish descent couldn’t be less sexualized, depicting naked beautiful people in situations so upsetting one wouldn’t possibly be turned-on. It’s reminiscent of Scarlett Johansson’s choice to make her nude debut in Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin.”
See the trailer below.