The Substance is a body horror movie from writer-director Coralie Fargeat, who previously made Revenge, a 2017 horror feature. Since its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the movie has created a lot of buzz due to its elements of horror, sex, gore, and violence. This has made viewers wonder how scary The Substance is.
Is The Substance a scary movie?
While judging how scary a movie is can be a subjective endeavor, there seems to be a consensus among the reviewers that The Substance is one of the most disturbing movies of the year. In his review, ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim wrote, “The Substance is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It’s the type of movie that shocks you with its imagery, but it’s not just pure shock value. There is so much this film wants to say, and the horror is the perfect vessel for the film’s themes.”
Sim later added, “I don’t scare easily with horror, and there were moments when I was covering my eyes because I couldn’t dare to look at the screen. My mind was blown. This film fully commits to its premise and over-delivers in the final act. You can’t miss it. Try The Substance.”
Jay Collura of The Rice Thresher observed, “The Substance is just straight-up fun to watch. It’s a roller coaster of a horror movie that is simultaneously viscerally scary and devilishly hilarious.”
Per IMDb, The Substance has received Severe content ratings for sex and nudity, gore and violence, and frightening and intense scenes. Further, it has garnered Moderate ratings for profanity and alcohol, drug, and smoking. The movie has received an R rating in the US.
The Substance revolves around Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a 50-year-old former movie star, who creates a “younger, more beautiful, more perfect” version of herself with the help of the titular serum and names her Sue (Margaret Qualley). There are many disturbing scenes in the movie. In one (spoilers warning), Elisabeth discovers that she has transformed into a woman with a crooked back and no hair. The scenes in which Elizabeth and Sue perish are also disturbing, as is the climatic scene. There, a third and merged version of Elizabeth and Sue appears on stage and tries to speak to the audience. However, they start screaming when her monstrous form is unveiled.
The Substance debuted in theaters on September 20, 2024. It came out on MUBI and VOD on October 31, 2024, and continues to be one of the most talked-about movies of the year due to its handling of the horror aspects of the story.
