New horror movie hits an almost perfect Rotten Tomatoes score

Film critics can’t get enough of Demi Moore ‘s new thriller following its weekend premiere. The horror film – which features full-frontal nudity from the actress, 61 – debuted on the big screen at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in France on May 19 after being selected by the event’s jury to compete for the Palme d’Or.

Moore portrays the movie’s lead character, and her co-stars include Dennis Quaid and Margaret Qualley. Directed by Coralie Fargeat, Moore’s 2024 film The Substance has received positive reviews, and it currently has a 92 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Substance does not have a Rotten Tomato Audience Score yet and it will be released in theaters worldwide later this year Moore, Qualley, and the late Ray Liotta were announced as stars of The Substance in early 2022. However, Liotta passed away that May, leading to Quaid taking over the role.

The Substance was filmed in Paris from May 2022 to October 2022 Moore portrays Elisabeth Sparkle – a woman who begins using a black-market drug after she is fired from her job. Elisabeth, who worked as the celebrity host of a show called Sparkle Your Life, was told by her producer, Harvey (Quaid), that a younger star would replace her.

The aging celebrity reaches out to suppliers of The Substance, which is a program that allows anyone to clone a younger version of themselves. Elisabeth decides to participate, and with the help of a cell-replicating substance, a younger version of herself named Sue (Qualley) is created. However, while a greedy Sue’s popularity rises, Elisabeth’s continues to decline, and it turns into a bloody mess.

During the cloning process, Qualley’s character is ‘birthed’ right after Moore’s character examines her own nude body. She is also completely unclothed while she and Qualley’s characters have a bloody fight later in the film. The longtime actress seemingly had no problem with her nudity scenes and that she was comfortable with Qualley during the fight.

‘I had someone who was a great partner,’ Moore said at a press conference on May 20. ‘We obviously were quite close — naked — and we also got a lot of levity in those moments at how absurd those certain situations were. But ultimately, it’s just about really directing your communication and mutual trust.’ Body positivity is just one of the things that had critics raving about The Substance, which received a 13-minute standing ovation at the festival.

‘It’s the casting of Moore, though, and her willingness to denude herself at 61 –emotionally, as well as physically– that gives The Substance a startling connection with its themes,’ wrote Tim Robey for the Daily Telegraph. ‘Not for 30 years has she owned a film with anything like this certitude.’ Other critics have praised Qualley, Quaid, and Fargeat’s direction.

‘[Coralie Fargeat] draws on much of the hyperbolic flamboyance that’s come to define megaplex horror,’ wrote Owen Gleiberman for Variety . ‘But unlike 90 percent of those movies, The Substance is the work of a filmmaker with a vision. She’s got something primal to say to us.’ Not all critics were fond of The Substance, and Kevin Maher of The Times even called the film ‘puerile, pointless and intellectually specious’ in his review.

‘The Substance’s execution of its supposed themes is as shallow as the very thing it’s critiquing, a stab at feminism without actually saying anything other than “women are held to excruciating beauty standards,”‘ wrote Hannah Strong for Little White Lies. ‘There’s no compassion here, and certainly no catharsis – just more and a sense we’ve done this all before.’

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