Demi Moore stars in gripping new thriller tackling societal pressures

In the first seconds of the trailer, we hear a voice: "Have you ever dreamed of a better version of yourself? Younger, more beautiful, more perfect?" Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), an aging TV show star, dreamed about it. And then, she began to experience the horrific consequences of taking an illegal drug.

The drug allows you to clone your body and share your consciousness with it. Thus, a younger, firmer alter ego of the protagonist is created (played by Margaret Qualley, known from Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood"). You just have to remember one thing: to share the time between the old and new versions of yourself. One week for one, one week for the other. Ideal balance without any deviations. "It's simple, right? If you don't try to bend the rules, everything will be fine," assure the drug's producers.

The film "Substance" delves into the theme of women's bodies and how they are subject to public scrutiny, judgment, and fantasies. It explores the societal pressure on women to conform to ideals of perfection, beauty, and youth to gain appreciation. Regardless of their education, strength, or independence, women find it challenging to escape these expectations. Director and screenwriter Coralie Fargeat, who won the Cannes Screenplay Award, highlights that the pervasive portrayal of the 'perfect woman' in advertisements, movies, and magazines is intended to promise love, success, and happiness.

Fargeat explains that when women deviate from societal standards regarding age, weight, or body shape, they face rejection and erasure from public view. Society signals that they are no longer valued or wanted, excluding them from screens, magazine covers, and public spaces, deeming them unworthy of attention.

According to reviewers, Demi Moore has created the role of her life in "Substance." "Moore’s performance is nothing short of fearless. She’s playing, in some very abstract way, a version of herself (once a star at the center of the universe, now old enough to be seen by sexist Hollywood as past it), and her acting is rippled with anger, terror, despair, and vengeance," wrote Owen Gleiberman of "Variety." In one of the scenes we see in the trailer, the 61-year-old actress, with unspeakable fury but also despair, tries to wipe off her "bloody" lipstick.