New body horror with near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score unveils its twisted first trailer

Demi Moore goes to disturbing lengths to recapture her youth in the twisted first trailer for Revenge director Coralie Fargeat’s new comedy-tinged body horror The Substance. Think The Neon Demon meets Bodies Bodies Bodies…

Also starring Hugo Diego Garcia, Dennis Quaid and Drive-Away Dolls‘ Margaret Qualley, the movie follows Elisabeth Sparkle, the host of a hit aerobics show who gets fired on her 50th birthday due to her age. Dejected, Elisabeth doesn’t think twice when she’s approached by a mysterious scientist and offered their lab’s latest experiment: a chemical that is said to revert the user back to their “younger, more beautiful, more perfect” selves.

The promo, which you can watch above, doesn’t give all that much away besides that basic premise, though we do seem blink-and-you’ll-miss-them shots of Quaid’s creepy salesman, a neon-green ‘Activator’, and an older Elisabeth getting into a car accident. Elsewhere, her younger version kicks a door down and screams, covered in blood. In short, the dream she’s been sold isn’t quite as dreamy as it first appeared…

Earlier this year, Fargeat was awarded the gong for Best Screenplay for The Substance at Cannes Film Festival 2024, which showcases just how much of a treat we’re in for with the dark-looking flick…

Released in 2017, Fargeat’s bloody thriller Revenge wowed genre fans with its action-packed spin on I Spit on Your Grave. Featuring Vincent Colombe, Guillaume Bouchède, Kevin Janssens, and Matilda Lutz, it centers on Jen, as she sets out to punish the three men who assaulted her and left her for dead in the Los Angeles desert. It currently holds an impressive 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Substance is set to release on Mubi on September 20. For more, check out our our list of the most exciting upcoming movies heading our way in 2024 and beyond.