Where Can I WatchThe Substance? How to Stream the Oscars Best Picture Nom Starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley

Mar. 15, 2025

Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley in The Substance.Photo:MUBI/YouTube (2)

MUBI/YouTube (2)

The indie body horror filmThe Substancehas boomed into a huge hit.

Made on a budget of just $17.5 million, perDeadline, the filmgrossed more than $77 millionworldwide and has earned many awards and nominations.

The Substance, which premiered on Sept. 20, 2024, has also earned its starDemi Moorenumerous accolades, including a Critics’ Choice Award, a SAG Award and aGolden Globe.

Duringher Critics’ Choice Award speech, Moore said, “The very recognition, not just for me, but for what this film is about, what it’s trying to convey, your acknowledgment is almost like the elixir.” She continued, “It is the healing balm to the very issue the film brings forward.”

The Substancealso earned five Oscar nominations, winning the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the97th Academy Awards.

So, where can you watch the highly-lauded body horror? Read on to find out whereThe Substanceis currently streaming and where it’s available to rent digitally.

What isThe Substanceabout?

Demi Moore in The Substance.MUBI/YouTube

MUBI/YouTube

InThe Substance, Demi Moore plays an aging Hollywood starlet named Elisabeth Sparkle who is fired from her popular exercise show the day she turns 50 because a studio exec (Dennis Quaid) feels she’s become too old.

The rules state that the two versions can only exist for seven days at a time before needing to switch out. If one of the versions remains conscious for more than seven days, they begin sucking the life out of the other.

Desperate for youth and beauty, Elisabeth’s new younger self (who names herself Sue) quickly gets careless and starts overusing her time, which causes Elisabeth’s body to rot away. By the end, she’s almost unrecognizable and has eroded away into a hideous monster.

“We’ve all had moments where you go back and you’re trying to fix something, and you’re just making it worse to the point where you’re incapacitated,” she said. “We’re seeing these small things nobody else is looking at, but we’reso hyper-focused on all that we’re not. All of us, if we start to think our value is only with how we look then ultimately we’re going to be crushed.”

Moore added, “What I did to myself, what I made it mean about me. Really looking at that violence, how violent we can be towards ourselves, how just brutal.”

How can I streamThe Substance?

Dennis Quaid in The Substance.MUBI/YouTube

The Substanceis streamingexclusively on Mubiand the Mubi subscription through Prime Video.

Mubi’s chief executive, Efe Cakarel, decided to buy the rights to the body horror, making it the distributor’s first global acquisition, after watching the scene in which Quaid peels and eats a mound of shrimp.

“This was something incredibly unique,” he toldThe New York Timesin 2025. “I had never been this sure about anything.”

Where can I rent or buyThe Substance?

Demi Moore in The Substance.MUBI/Youtube

MUBI/Youtube

Can I watchThe Substancein theaters?

Margaret Qualley in The Substance.MUBI/YouTube

The Substanceis also still screening in select cinemas around the country, so check local theater listings.

source: people.com