One of Modern Horror’s Most Disturbing Movies Is Trending Again for Halloween

3 days ago 13

Dennis Quaid eating a shrimp and looking off to the side

Published Oct 6, 2026, 12:31 PM EDT

Shrishty is a decade-old journalist covering a variety of beats between politics to pop culture, but movies are her first love, which led her to study Film and TV Development at UCLAx. She lives and breathes cinema and sometimes wakes up with the close-up shot of Ryan Gosling's hands playing piano in La La Land, in her head.

She has worked with numerous media outlets, including Burda Media (MSN News), DKODING Media, The Voice of Fashion, Hindustan Times, and more. Throughout her career, she has interviewed an array of people, from CEOs and politicians to filmmakers and farmers.

With spooky season upon us, horror fans are eager to check out their favorite films in the genre. Recent years have yielded many great films, like Robert Egger’s Nosferatu, Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, and numerous Stephen King adaptations like The Monkey, The Long Walk, The Running Man, and many more. 2026 alone has been great for the genre with films like Curry Baker’s Obsession, A24’s Backrooms, and Sam Raimi’s Send Help, among others.

Among the movies that received praise from critics and audiences alike is The Substance. Directed by Coralie Fargeat and starring Demi Moore, the movie not only received wide praise for its themes and performances but also made its audience think deeply about beauty standards, societal expectations, and their own role in both. The Substance follows Elisabeth Sparkle, the 50-something star of an aerobics show, who is fired by her boss because of her age. However, things take a turn when she receives an unexpected proposal: a mysterious lab offers her a miraculous substance, which, upon injection, will make Elisabeth "the best version" of herself, i.e., younger, more beautiful, and perfect.

Fargeat, well known for her 2017 rape-revenge thriller Revenge, directs from her own script. The feature deals with themes of body image and societal expectations around how one should look. The feature used extreme body horror to deconstruct how society commodifies women's bodies, the obsession with perfection, and the power of addiction, leaving the audience in awe. The film earned an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score from the critics. Often deemed a modern masterclass in body horror, the film garnered four Oscar nominations while Moore won a Golden Globe for her transformative performance. Along with Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, the movie also cast talents including Margaret Qualley as Sue, Dennis Quaid as Harvey, Hugo Diego Garcia, Phillip Schurer, Joseph Balderrama, and Robin Greer.

'The Substance' Resurfaces on Streaming

Older Elisabeth Sparkle on the phone in The Substance

Margaret Qualley as Sue blowing a kiss at the camera in The Substance (2024)

Now fans are revisiting the film, as The Substance has risen to Netflix’s global top 10 charts, as per FlixPatrol. The movie stands at the eighth spot on the list among films like Shailene Woodley’s Unabomber, Denzel Washington’s revenge thriller The Equalizer 3, Brendan Fraser’s The Mummy, Robert De Niro’s thriller The Whisper Man, and many more.