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Closing Night Gala | The Substance

Directed by Coralie Fargeat
2024
USA, France, UK
140 minutes
Unclassified 18+
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The buzziest film out of Cannes, where it won the Best Screenplay Award, The Substance stars Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid in a gloriously blood-splattered and hilariously satirical feminist body horror.
Bid farewell to the Sydney Film Festival at the Closing Night Gala at the State Theatre. Find out which films take out SFF's top prizes at our awards ceremony, then enjoy a screening of Cannes hit The Substance.

Moore plays the former Hollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle, now relegated to presenting a workout show, though at least it’s a stable job. But ratings are everything, and when sleazy TV exec Harvey (Dennis Quaid) decides that new blood – or fresh meat – is needed, Elisabeth turns to a mysterious medical procedure involving The Substance. Soon there is a young and beautiful version of Elisabeth called Sue (Qualley). All that is needed for both to co-exist is a careful maintenance of the equilibrium – time has to be shared equally: Elisabeth gets one week, then Sue gets one. But when the balance is disrespected, the repercussions are both grave and irreversible. Fargeat made her debut with the memorable 2017 thriller Revenge, and she adeptly ratchets up the tension in this extremely clever and risqué tale of excess and vanity, eliciting squirms and laughs.
This magnificent shocker heralds the squelchy, sick-making birth of a new horror maestro
★★★★★ Phil de Semlyen, Time Out
A cheerfully silly and outrageously indulgent piece of gonzo body-horror comedy ... Roger Corman would have loved it
★★★★Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
A visionary feminist body-horror film … in-your-face, garishly accessible and thrillingly extreme ... the work of a filmmaker with a vision.
Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Tickets

Sun 16 Jun
7pm
State Theatre
Assisted Listening
Past Event Cancel
Year
2024
Classification
Unclassified 18+
Country
USA, France, UK
Director
Coralie Fargeat
Producer
Eric Fellner, Tim Bevan, Coralie Fargeat
Cast
Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid, Demi Moore
Screenwriter
Coralie Fargeat
Cinematographer
Benjamin Kračun
Editor
Jérôme Eltabet
Genre
Horror, Women Directors, Festival Award Winners, Fantasy & Sci-Fi, Cannes Selected
Company Credits
Australian Distributor: Madman Entertainment
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