If you’re looking for something different to watch during the spooky season, you won’t find a more unusual offering than The Substance by Coralie Fargeat. It isn’t your typical ghosts or axe murderers horror. Rather, it’s in the tradition of David Cronenberg’s body horror, offering a range of monstrosities, from gory violence to body mutation, that will send chills down your spine.
The story follows a fading Hollywood star, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), who gets kicked off her own fitness TV show. The ageing actress decides to compete for her position in showbiz by taking a bizarre rejuvenation treatment. Although its effects are spectacular, it soon turns out that not heeding the warning that comes with the treatment has unexpected consequences.
The Substance, awarded Best Screenplay at the Cannes Film Festival 2024, is best seen in the cinema. However, if you fancy a second viewing of Coralie Fargeat’s body horror, here’s information about the film’s release on home media.
How to watch The Substance now
Currently, the Demi Moore-led horror is available in cinemas.
In the US, you can get your tickets on AMC Theatres and Fandango websites. In the UK, you can book them at Vue, Cineworld, and Odeon.
Here’s the trailer for the movie:
When could The Substance be released on streaming services?
In the US and UK, Coralie Fargeat’s body horror was released by Mubi, a film distributor specialising in arthouse and independent movies. Mubi also has its own streaming platform, so The Substance will likely premiere there after its theatrical run.
Many films distributed by Mubi hit streaming about a month and a half after the theatrical release; this was the case with Holy Spider by Ali Abbasi, Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki and Perfect Days by Wim Wenders. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, Gasoline Rainbow by Ross Brothers appeared on the Mubi service 21 days after opening in cinemas, while The Settlers by Felipe Gálvez appeared only after 77 days.
The Substance opened in theatres in the US and UK on 20 September 2024, and for an arthouse film, it’s doing really well at the box office. All indications are that Coralie Fargeat’s horror is the most successful film distributed by Mubi. As such, the company most likely isn’t in a hurry to launch the movie on its service – we predict that The Substance might be available for streaming in early November 2024.
Note that this date is only a prediction, and Mubi has yet to confirm it.
How to watch The Substance on VOD
Currently, there is no confirmed date for The Substance to be released on digital platforms.
However, you can already pre-order the film on Amazon Prime Video US, but it’s unclear when The Substance will be available for purchase or rental. According to the DVDs Release Dates, this could happen as early as 29 October 2024, although Mubi still needs to confirm this date.
When will The Substance be released on DVD/Blu-ray?
As you can read on The Substance page on Amazon UK, the horror is scheduled for release on DVD and Blu-ray on 1 July 2025. The film is currently available for pre-order. However, we don’t know how certain this date is, as Mubi hasn’t confirmed it yet.
