Why Demi Moore's New Controversial Horror Movie The Substance Reminds Her Of 1990 Supernatural Classic

Summary Demi Moore speaks on the similarities between her upcoming film The Substance and her 1990 classic Ghost.

The Substance and Ghost share similarities with their mix of genres, offering a love story, thriller, and comedy all in one film.

Demi Moore praises The Substance for its deep themes on aging and societal expectations, highlighting its unique exploration of these issues.

Demi Moore explains why her upcoming horror film The Substance reminds her of Ghost. The Substance is an upcoming horror thriller starring Moore as an aging Hollywood star who is offered the opportunity to test out a mysterious substance that allows her to transformer into a younger version of herself. Ghost was a 1990 hit for Moore wherein she played Molly Jensen, a widow whose now-ghost husband works with a psychic in an attempt to save Molly from meeting his same fate. Ghost remains one of Moore's most classic roles to date.

In an interview with Empire, Moore explains why The Substance reminds her of Ghost. Moore explained that both films contain multitudes when it comes to tone and genre presentation, as they could be "a love story, a thriller, and a comedy." In both cases, Moore felt that the films could either be a "disaster" or could "come together and somehow work." In the case of The Substance, Moore felt that "it had real depth" and carried with it vitally important themes. Check out the full quote from Moore below:

“Reading Ghost, I thought, ‘Wow, we’ve got a love story, a thriller and a comedy.’ This could either be a disaster, or come together and somehow work.’ [The Substance] fits into that category. My team sent it with a caveat of, ‘[We] don’t want to say anything about it, just read it.' Because even on paper, it takes you on such a wild ride. Yet it had real depth, and the subject is so important. It’s such a unique way to explore the issue of ageing, and the male perspective of the idealised woman that we’ve bought into. Not what’s been done to us, but the part we’ve played in doing it to ourselves.

In addition, Empire also released a new photo from the film, showing Moore's character cleaning obsessively. Check that out below:

Image via Empire

How Is The Substance Being Received Thus Far?

The Substance Is Controversial

The way in which Moore speaks about The Substance's themes is overall positive, but not all audiences will take it that way. While The Substance does offer a "unique way to explore the issue of ageing," the film's commentary on Hollywood, through the employment of its Hollywood protagonists, is bound to be divisive for some people in the industry. The Substance has been described as body horror, with glimpses of its bloodiness seen in the trailer, so its intensity could likely also lead to division.

The Substance is set for release on Friday, September 20.

While the film has faced significant opposition, the overall reviews for The Substance have slanted positive thus far. At the time of writing, the film holds an 89% Tomatometer with 47 reviews thus far. For a body horror film with themes of social critique, this score is especially high. The Substance does not yet have an audience score, but given the themes of the film, it is likely to be divisive.

Related The Substance Is Continuing A Clever 2024 Horror Trend Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance uses body horror to question the oppressive and obsessive quest for control over the aging of women's bodies.

Even Moore's quote itself indicates how polar the opinions towards The Substance could be. The fact that her team offered no preamble before handing her the script suggests a high shock value and twists and turns to come in The Substance, as it is potent even on paper. Audiences, however, will have to form their own opinion about whether The Substance is a "disaster" or a masterpiece. The Substance trailer is an optimistic point towards the latter, but the consensus on the film is far from decided.

Source: Empire