The Substance

On her 50th birthday, faded Hollywood film star Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is dismissed from her long-running aerobics TV show by its producer, Harvey (Dennis Quaid), due to her age. Elisabeth orders a black market drug called The Substance, which promises a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley as Sue, a younger woman with unexpected side effects. As the two bodies switch consciousness once every week, Elisabeth becomes a self-hating recluse while Sue lives a confident and hedonistic life, leading to a dark and grotesque exploration of societal pressures surrounding women's bodies and aging.