“Demi Moore was pissed off by her butt, the swimsuit was glued with tape”: little-known facts about “Substance” (10 photos)

The film "Substance" is a project created by director Coralie Farjat, which combines elements of body horror, satire and parable. Let's dive into the world of behind-the-scenes facts about the filming that make this film so unique.





I admit that I am not a big fan of body horror films. In general, I try to avoid them when watching films. Personally, this dubious subgenre of horror films causes sincere disgust in me. Although you understand that everything here is a sham, and the blood is actually cheap ketchup smeared, but still, as they say, a residue of disgust remains.

However, "The Substance" still really got to me. Let's say it's more of a social drama... I had the honor of watching it back in December, and I'm still, as they say, comprehending and digesting it. I won't retell the plot, or give away spoilers. But I'll share a dozen facts about the scandalous film that many people don't know. So, let's go!



The title of the film is translated from English a little inaccurately. The word "The Substance" can rather be interpreted as "substance". That is, the same green stuff that the main character Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) injects herself with in an attempt to regain her lost youth.

For reasons of economy and tax breaks, most of the film was not shot in Los Angeles, but on the Cote d'Azur and in Paris in France. The home country of horror director Coralie Fargie.



Actually, the modest Margaret Qualley, in order to raise the sexy image of her heroine, had to wear silicone breast pads. And before filming the explicit scenes of very provocative aerobics, by her own admission, she also drank a little tequila. By the way, the swimsuit was attached with double-sided tape to avoid embarrassment.

After the rehearsals, I literally cried - I'm not used to being filmed so frankly, - admitted cutie Margaret.



To clearly show the sharply aged part of her heroine's hand, a special prosthetic index finger was made for Demi Moore. And not even one, but as many as eleven - until the director thought that the prosthesis looked more than naturalistic.



In general, there is surprisingly little computer graphics in the film: the creators relied mostly on skillful makeup, prosthetics and skillful camera work when filming special effects.

To film Demi Moore as a very old and barely alive bald old woman, silicone with red and blue cotton wool was glued directly to the actress's body, playing the role of veins.



The image of the monster Elizasyu is a complex combination of a real costume and a minimum of digital technology. For example, Demi Moore's screaming face was added using a computer. However, Qualley herself called the process of putting on and taking off the costume a real torture, a very difficult process in which she was helped by an entire auxiliary team.



In the shocking finale of the film, the film crew used as many as 113 liters of artificial blood. And she built a full-fledged model of the theater for her needs - they didn't want to pay for the almost complete destruction of the real building.

However, the most disgusting scene in the film is suddenly called the consumption of shrimp by the producer, Dennis Quaid's character. To achieve the best effect, the poor guy had to gobble up two kilograms of these sea creatures.



Demi Moore calls the most difficult scene for herself the one where, before the failed date, her character had to redo her makeup many times:

- It took 11 takes, my face ended up red as a tomato. The team began to worry that I would hurt myself.



Demi Moore, by her own admission, was also annoyed by the close-up shots of her buttocks. However, the actress eventually resigned herself and gave permission not to delete the shots during editing.

It's just yuck to film something like that and show it on screen. But I'm a professional and I agreed.

The film left me, as a viewer, with a long series of questions. For example, who was the real mysterious supplier of the rejuvenating product? How much did it cost? Did the producers know about its, let's say, cute side effects?