"A New Instant Sicko Classic": People Can't Stop Talking About How Wild And Shocking "The Substance" Is

BuzzFeed
·4-min read

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Substance.

If there's one new movie bound for major discussion, it's The Substance.

Demi Moore sits at a dining table in an upscale restaurant. She is wearing a fitted blue blazer over a high-collared purple blouse. Other diners can be seen behind her in a scene from The Substance
MUBI / Courtesy Everett Collection

The (at-times comedic) horror film stars a terrific Demi Moore as we've never seen her before, alongside Margaret Qualley, who is also at her best.

Demi Moore looks intensely into a mirror, wearing a formal dress with earrings in a scene from The Substance
MUBI / Courtesy Everett Collection

The Substance follows a fading Hollywood star, Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore), who takes a mysterious substance that allows her to exist as a new starlet, Sue (Qualley).

Demi Moore, with long hair, stands in a bathroom looking somber, wearing a velvet top in The Substance
MUBI / Courtesy Everett Collection

However, Elisabeth's desire to hold onto the spotlight and Sue's growing want for it herself have dire consequences for both of them.

Margaret Qualley stands in a bathroom with wet hair, looking at the camera, with tiled walls and bathroom fixtures visible in the background
MUBI / Courtesy Everett Collection

Directed by French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, the movie is a horror film like no other and a true tour de force for Moore. Fargeat won Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and the film was also nominated for the fest's top award, the Palme d'Or.

Margaret Qualley, Coralie Fargeat, and Demi Moore pose together on a balcony
STEFANO RELLANDINI/AFP via Getty Images

The Substance is also a critical hit, boasting an 89% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Margaret Qualley with dramatic makeup and earrings, is seen from the shoulders up in The Substance
MUBI / Courtesy Everett Collection

Now that it's been released in the States, fan reactions are coming in, and it's clear this body horror has captured audiences' attention in ways that are simply too hard to describe.

A person with long hair lies face down on a tiled bathroom floor, exposing a stitched incision down their back. Another figure with a snake-patterned garment stands over them
MUBI / Courtesy Everett Collection

So here are 11 of the best tweets about the film, which (as these tweets make very clear) you'll really want to see in a theater...if you can handle seeing copious amounts of blood and intense body modification, that is:

1.

@jbaker475/Twitter / Via Twitter: @jbaker475

2.

@ctnash91/Twitter/Warner Bros. Pictures/Amblin Entertainment / Via Twitter: @ctnash91

3.

@HamishCalvert/Twitter/20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved/courtesy Everett Collection / Via Twitter: @HamishCalvert

4.

@basedgizmo/Twitter / Via Twitter: @basedgizmo

5.

@bad_composer/Twitter / Via Twitter: @bad_composer

6.

@awards_watch/Twitter/MUBI / Via Twitter: @awards_watch

7.

@katya_zamo/Twitter / Via Twitter: @katya_zamo

8.

@kenzvanunu/Twitter/MUBI

9.

@AmandaTheJedi/Twitter/MUBI / Via Twitter: @AmandaTheJedi

10.

@michaelmohan/Twitter / Via Twitter: @michaelmohan

11.

@Radmure/Twitter / Via Twitter: @Radmure

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