As The Substance began its impressive run in theaters, many fans of the film were simply hoping the awards season gods would grace Demi Moore with accolades for her career-best performance in the film. It all felt like a long shot, given the fact that the movie is a body-horror satire, a genre that isn’t typically embraced during awards season, but Moore’s performance and the film have continued to gain traction. Now, fresh off of five Golden Globe nominations, The Substance could be headed for a surprise showing at the Academy Awards because it has just picked up a slew of Critics Choice nominations that have made it more than the little engine that could.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
Per Deadline, the 30th Critics Choice Awards film nominations were unveiled this morning and The Substance definitely showed up to play with a total of seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Coralie Fargeat), Best Original Screenplay (Fargeat), Best Actress (Demi Moore), Best Supporting Actress (Margaret Qualley), Best Hair and Makeup, and Best Visual Effects. This marks a very good week for the film, which essentially matched the nominations it received at the Golden Globes, minus the technical notices. If there was any doubt that The Substance could be an Oscar player, that may very well be washed away now because the industry appears to be embracing the film in a big way.
The Substance has some pretty solid competition for Best Picture, going up against Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, A Complete Unknown, Anora, The Brutalist, Nickel Boys, Conclave, Wicked, and Sing Sing. In the Best Actress category, Moore is in good company with Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), Angelina Jolie (Maria), and Mikey Madison (Anora). Also of note is the stacked directing category that Fargeat finds herself in, which includes Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), Sean Baker (Anora), Edward Berger (Conclave), Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), Jon M. Chu (Wicked), RaMell Ross (Nickel Boys), and Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two).
Margaret Qualley Is Also Getting Recognition for ‘The Substance’
It’s also wonderful that these voting bodies are showing love to Qualley, who works in lockstep with Moore to turn in a fine performance in the film. Qualley earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Golden Globes and finds herself nominated for a Critics Choice award in the same category, facing off against Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson), Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Nickel Boys), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Isabella Rossellini (Conclave), and Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez).
Related
2024’s Best Horror Movies, From ‘The First Omen’ to ‘The Substance’
2024 has been another incredible year for filmmaking, especially in the horror genre. The year has brought some magnificent films, but which are best?
Watching The Substance get this far has been amazing. From hearing how Fargeat pushed back against original distributor Universal Pictures, which wanted her to cut scenes, to an amazing box office run that has resulted in $56.5 million globally on a $17.5 million budget. The film’s success has been a slow but steady burn, and everyone involved with the movie has been pounding the pavement to make sure it gets recognized.
Early on it was evident that they had something with The Substance when Fargeat won Best Screenplay at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Mubi, which purchased the film for $12 million when Universal Pictures allowed Fargeat to find another distributor, ended up being the right home for The Substance, rolling the film out gradually on the domestic front as it did killer business overseas. While the movie grossed $16.4 million in the U.S., it had great holds domestically despite shedding a major amount of screens weekend after weekend. Audiences were actively seeking it out, and now that it’s streaming on Mubi, The Substance has become the biggest hit on the streaming platform.
The Substance currently sits at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, with major critics citing Moore’s performance early on as an Oscar contender. Now, with the film earning nominations in other major categories at the precursors leading to the Academy Awards, it’s clear that The Substance could very well be a player beyond Moore’s performance, and it’s so richly deserved for one of the best films of the year.
Elisabeth Sparkle, renowned for an aerobics show, faces a devastating blow on her 50th birthday as her boss fires her. Amid her distress, a laboratory offers her a substance which promises to transform her into an enhanced version of herself.
- Release Date
-
September 20, 2024
- Director
-
Coralie Fargeat
- Runtime
-
140 Minutes
- Cast
-
Demi Moore
, Margaret Qualley
, Dennis Quaid
, Gore Abrams
, Hugo Diego Garcia
, Olivier Raynal
, Tiffany Hofstetter
, Tom Morton
, Jiselle Burkhalter
, Axel Baille
, Oscar Lesage
, Matthew Géczy
, Philip Schurer
2024-12-12 18:13:33
