The Substancenow has an official streaming release date. The Coralie Fargeat body horror movie, which was distributed in theaters by MUBI, follows a fading movie star named Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) who is fired from her television show after turning 50, at which point she begins a dangerous experiment with the titular injectable medicine, which promises to promote cellular division and births a younger, more “perfect” version of herself which she names Sue (Margaret Qualley). RaveThe Substancereviewsearned the movie a Certified Fresh score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.
On the officialThe SubstanceX account, it was announced thatthe movie will officially begin streaming on MUBI on Halloween, which takes place on October 31. The post includes an image with a grotesque close-up of gruesome body horror and a caption that reads “Soon, you can try THE SUBSTANCE in your very own home.” See their announcement below:
What This Means For The Substance
It May Have Found The Perfect Release Date
This Halloween release date for the buzzy new horror moviecould provide the perfect streaming launchpad. The Halloween season tends to be a time when horror movies have strong audience pull both in theaters and on streaming. However, the big theatrical horror releases of October - most notablySmile 2andTerrifier 3- have already premiered, with the superhero sequelVenom: The Last Danceset to be the last tentpole of the month on October 24, likely scaring any other major releases off the schedule. The next weekend kicks off on November 1, which does not feature any major horror titles.
Already at the time of writing, the Top 100 VOD titles on the Apple TV store include horror classics such asCoraline,Scream,Halloween, andFinal Destinationalongside newer genre titles includingLonglegs,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,Trap, andStrange Darling.
While Halloween itself is relatively barren of new theatrical releases, it has comparatively few streaming debuts as well. The day before is chock full of new Halloween season titles, including the new Netflix slasherTime Cutand the two-part finale of Disney+‘sAgatha All Along, butthe Fargeat could still scoop up quite a bit of the at-home audiencethe day of. The well-knownThe Substancecast, which also includes Dennis Quaid, as well as the movie’s strong reviews, could help propel it to the top of watchlists.
Our Take On The Substance Streaming Premiere Date
This Could Be The Movie’s Time To Shine
This prominent date for thestreaming release ofThe Substancecouldhelp it succeed on MUBI in a way it was not able to in theaters. At the time of writing, it has only earned $34.2 million at the box office against a budget of $17.5 million, which may not have been quite enough for it to break even, as many movies need to earn back two and a half times their budgets. However, it garnered a solid 73% Rotten Tomatoes audience score in the process, so word of mouth could help it make up the difference on streaming.
The Substance
Cast
Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading celebrity, turns to a mysterious drug that promises to restore her youth by creating a younger, more beautiful version of herself. But splitting time between her original and new body leads to horrifying consequences as her alternate self, Sue, begins to unravel her life in a disturbing body-horror descent.
