The movie The Substance continues to be a hot topic. It won the Best Screenplay award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, creating a lot of excitement before its release in theaters on September 20. After 10 days at the Box Office, the film is getting closer to reaching the $15 million mark worldwide.
It is only $2 million away from its reported $17 million budget. This success is impressive, especially since it was released in fewer than 2,000 theaters nationwide, which is much less than most of its competition.
Because of this achievement, The Substance is now MUBI’s biggest domestic hit ever, surpassing its previous record held by Decision to Leave.
This success is remarkable considering that MUBI almost didn’t get to distribute the film. Universal Pictures initially had the rights to distribute it. However, Universal later had concerns about releasing the film, likely because of its intense body horror.
MUBI took over the distribution rights after the film’s debut at Cannes. They are glad they did, as the film continues to perform well in theaters. Some people believe it could win awards, with Demi Moore being mentioned as a possible contender.
The Substance boldly challenges beauty standards. Coralie Fargeat, the director, clearly understands current cultural issues. Her two feature films, including The Substance, have both addressed significant themes.
‘The Substance’ Is Already MUBI’s Biggest Domestic Hit Ever
While her first film, Revenge, focused on men’s roles in gender violence, The Substance looks deeper into women and their bodies. It examines the unrealistic beauty standards many women face and the extreme measures they take to meet them. This theme is shown in various ways in the film, particularly through body horror and nudity.
Caleb Hammond from Collider discusses this in his review of the film. He states, “Unafraid of nudity presented from every conceivable angle, Moore’s performance bares all. Meanwhile, Qualley’s nude body as Sue seems digitally altered, which creates this airbrushed feeling that is quite effective.
Sue’s youthful body represents the total commodification of sex, where the explicit and sexlessness intersect. The Substance’s satire can be too obvious and straightforward, like when Harvey tells Elisabeth the age-old line that women should smile—an audio clip that pops up throughout the film’s more manic moments.
Sue’s role in taking over Elisabeth’s life is presented with an intentional lack of interiority (she barely speaks throughout the film). If she was granted more personality, we might have ended up rooting for both leads, amping up the intensity of their back-and-forth battle for cultural relevancy as actors.”
The Substance is now MUBI’s biggest domestic hit ever, and you can watch it in theaters right now.
