"The Substance" is a dark modern fable that starts out blaming men for reducing women to sex objects and then cuts deeper. Fargeat saves a special rage for women who conspire in their own diminishment, trading their soul in a pulse beat for a few more shining hours as a goddess.

The Substance is all about showing instead of telling, and while that ultimately proves to be exceptionally demanding for the film’s stars, both Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley are magnificent. Beyond the intense physicality for both actors – including bold nudity and metamorphosis – they are what set the stakes and attitude.

The Substance, the new film starring Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore, has set a record for the latter. The body-horror film follows a fading celebrity (played by Moore) who begins to use a black-market drug that creates a younger version of herself (Qualley).