‘The Substance’: Read The Screenplay By Coralie Fargeat That Injects A Fresh Dose Of Body Horror Brilliance

deadline.com:

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting scripts from the year’s most talked-about movies continues with The Substance, Mubi’s satirical horror from writer-director Coralie Fargeat.

Demi Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a once famous actress and now a fading fitness celebrity who decides to use a black market drug that creates a young, better version of herself.

The Substance had a splashy premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Best Screenplay award and scored a 13-minute standing ovation, establishing it as one of the year’s buzziest horror films.

It hit U.S. theaters in September and has grossed $56.1 million globally year to date. In the pic, Elisabeth unintentionally discovers her fate while sitting in a men’s restroom stall where she overhears Harvey, the odious network executive, declaring at the urinal, “We need her young, we need her hot, we need her now.” Shortly after, Elisabeth is fired, and following a car accident she is presented with an opportunity to join an exclusive experiment.