Mubi on Thursday morning unveiled the first teaser trailer for The Substance, its explosive feminist take on body horror which drew a 13-minute standing ovation and won the award for Best Screenplay in its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Starring Margaret Qualley (Kinds of Kindness), Demi Moore (Feud) and Dennis Quaid (Happy Face), the film hails from writer-director Coralie Fargeat, the French filmmaker behind 2017’s TIFF genre-bender Revenge starring Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz. It’s slated for release in theaters nationwide on Sept 20th.
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The Substance watches as fading celebrity Elizabeth Sparkle (Moore) decides to use a black market drug, a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself. Fargeat produced the pic alongside Working Title partners Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan.
“Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect?” asks a disembodied voice in a wild trailer, introducing both Moore’s Elizabeth and her younger alter ego, Sue, played by Qualley.
The Substance is set to open against the Apple/Sony thriller Wolfs starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt, Paramount Pictures’ Transformers One, A24’s darkly comedic horror thriller A Different Man starring Sebastian Stan, indies All Shall Be Well and What We Find on the Road, and the documentary Happy Clothes on Emmy-winning costume designer Patricia Field.
Most recently releasing the Ross brothers’ Gasoline Rainbow, Mubi will next unveil Levan Akin’s drama Crossing on August 30th.
Check out the first trailer for The Substance by clicking above.