Visionary horror film ‘The Substance’ guaranteed to shock, amaze and repulse

“The Substance” — 4 stars

Here comes the boldest, smartest, most audacious and creepiest David Cronenberg horror film not made by David Cronenberg.

Stuffed with goop, spurting with puss, obsessed with mutilated body parts, and crammed with eye-popping nudity and violence, “The Substance” comes from director/writer Coralie Fargeat, who elevates an exploitation premise into an explosively visionary, blackly comic cinematic experience that rails against society’s addiction to superficiality in entertainment and cosmetic enhancements, all rendered through a sharp feminist lens.

This work of courage, commitment and creativity leads the list of potential winners for the 2025 Oscars in Production Design and Sound, with Fargeat a strong contender for a Director nomination. Too soon?

“The Substance” stars Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, an aging Oscar-winning actress turned TV aerobics workout coach. When her ratings-obsessed producer (a career-topping performance from Dennis Quaid, trying to out-Nicolas-Cage Nicolas Cage) fires her, a desperate Elisabeth calls a phone number handed to her from a stranger.

She contacts a never-seen organization behind a mystery product, the Substance, promising it will make customers into better, younger versions of themselves.

She receives a box of medical equipment, including tubes, syringes, vials of green liquid, and two plastic bags of food, one for her and one for her “other self.”

Other self?

The cautionary instructions remind Elisabeth, “The two of you are one,” a meaningless memo. Until Elisabeth injects the Substance.

Her gyrating body splits along her spine, and out pops a stunning Margaret Qualley, wearing only a thin coat of mucus. (If you think this is outrageous, wait until she pulls a partially digested chicken leg out of her belly button.)

Qualley calls herself Sue. She auditions to be the next Elisabeth Sparkle, and gets the gig, called “Pump It Up.” She leads a squad of scantily clad females performing suggestive gyrations and thrusts while Benjamin Kracun’s leering cameras close in tight on body parts and Jérôme Eltabet’s lightning edits throw those into our retinas.

Oops. Almost forget to mention the all-important caveat.

While Sue goes out into the world, Elisabeth’s aging body remains on the floor of a secret room at her house. Every seven days, Sue must switch off with Elisabeth so that Sue remains inanimate on the floor while Elisabeth goes into the world.

The two of them are one?

They possess different personalities, and ambitious Sue doesn’t like that she must lose two weeks every month to the older Elisabeth.

Exactly how does this arrangement benefit Elisabeth if she can’t actually be Sue?

“The Substance” tactfully ignores this murky point amid its fantastic parade of distorted wide-angle visuals, quick cuts and ear-arresting sounds, all highly reminiscent of Darren Aronofsky’s polished nightmare “Requiem for a Dream.”

Moore scores a personal-best performance here. She is literally comfortable in her skin — and skin only — in a challenging role that dramatically grounds this extravaganza of excess and far eclipses her character from “Strip Tease.”

Qualley’s auspicious and dedicated performance radiates the confidence and determination of a serious business woman who knows how to create what sells. And it’s not substance.

Hence the clever double-meaning of the movie’s title; calling out what’s lacking in pop culture and media-reinforced ideas about aging, success and self-imagery.

“The Substance” won’t be an easy movie to embrace. The super-close shots of Quaid power-chewing on shrimp takes some time to adjust to, and a Grand Guignol finale during a New Year’s Eve telecast makes the twin-bladed lawn mower massacre in Peter Jackson’s “Dead Alive” look like a “Sesame Street” short.

Fargeat, a French filmmaker whose 2017 debut feature “Revenge” impressed both critics and audiences, steps into the ranks of auteurism with “The Substance,” which probably came in under budget.

Look at all the money she saved just on costumes for Moore and Qualley.

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Starring: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid

Directed by: Coralie Fargeat

Other: A MUBI theatrical release. Rated R for language, nudity, violence. 140 minutes