Coralie Fargeat's masterful body horror film The Substance has been all the rage this awards season, not only because it's excellent but also because it's so rare for a horror movie to get nominated at the most prestigious award shows. Notably, Demi Moore won her first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy earlier this month, where the film also received nominations for Best Director, Best Motion Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress (Margaret Qualley).
Following the Golden Globes, The Substance continues to win awards from organizations like the Austin Film Critics Association and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. The film has also been nominated for Critics' Choice Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. It seems increasingly likely that The Substance will receive Academy Award attention. Some professional critics even believe Moore could be a frontrunner for this year's Best Actress race.
Given the hype surrounding The Substance, distributor Mubi will be re-releasing the film into 350 theaters nationwide beginning on January 17 via IndieWire. The film was first released in theaters this past September, followed by a Halloween streaming date on the Mubi platform. I highly recommend seeing The Substance on the biggest screen possible to appreciate its spectacle.
Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a once prolific Hollywood star turned into a TV aerobics instructor, who is unceremoniously dumped by the show's producer (Dennis Quaid) because she's deemed too old. With her career spiraling out of her hands, Elisabeth agrees to participate in an experimental treatment that gives her a chance to re-experience her youth, with disastrous consequences. Margaret Qualley also stars.
The film reportedly made over $79 million at the worldwide box office. Even before it was released in theaters, The Substance won awards as early as May 2025 at the Cannes Film Festival and, later, the Toronto International Film Festival.
For those who haven't watched Fargeat's previous film, Revenge, it's another fantastic one to watch. Fargeat is one of the most exciting and ambitious up-and-coming female filmmakers out there right now and I cannot wait to see what she does next. But don't worry, she's not going to milk The Substance, revealing she has no plans to make a sequel and is instead working on her next movie.
The Substance is now available to stream on Mubi, in addition to being out to rent or purchase digitally, and will be released physically on January 21.