Melanocytes depleting; collagen subsiding - the signs of age pave their way upon our face. No silver fox nor gleaming starlet safe from sags and scents; the body crumbles beneath its own volition. Such is the wholly human curse at the centre of The Substance.

As fleeting former-star Elisabeth Sparkle (Ghost’s Demi Moore) faces forced retirement, she engages an experimental new substance to preserve her youth and career - with diabolical consequences.

Perhaps over-long but well worth staying for the curtain call, The Substance finds writer/director Coralie Fargeat in full control of her side-splitting and stomach churning craft - staking her claim amidst the likes of Carpenter and Cronenberg.

Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley (Poor Things, Sanctuary) bare it all in the dynamic and demanding lead roles of Elisabeth and Sue - two sides of the same coin, battling for supremacy of their shared consciousness. Both actresses deserve serious awards consideration - Qualley's Sue: sultry and conniving; and Moore's Elisabeth: marooned in a body and world that are quickly abandoning her, and giving perhaps the best performance of her career.

As Elisabeth and Sue tumble deeper down the rabbit-hole, the film erupts in riotous gore and glee; with some of the most sickening practical effects in recent memory, buckets of blood are just the tip of the iceberg!

For all its puss, blood, gunk and goo - The Substance is a delightfully good-looking film: tightly shot, expertly framed, and brimming with style and (of course) substance - not to mention the utterly-insane practical effects and costumes.

Tight writing; committed performances; sickening practical effects; a chip on its shoulder and heart on its sleeve. The Substance is a sickening and sublime certified cult-classic that will keep you retching in-between your laughter and applause.

See it with a large crowd and an empty stomach.

4.5 / 5 stars