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Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance is a bold, grotesque, and satirical dive into the world of body horror, vanity, and Hollywood’s brutal fixation on youth. Following Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a fitness icon desperate to reclaim her glory days, the story explores the dark lengths one might go to for rejuvenation. When Elisabeth injects a mysterious elixir to regain her youthful appearance, it spawns her younger doppelgänger (Margaret Qualley), igniting a twisted rivalry between the two halves of her identity. In this candy-colored nightmare, The Substance exposes how our obsession with youth can lead to a moral struggle, haunted by the reflection staring back. If you enjoyed its surreal horror and piercing commentary, here are eight movies like The Substance that blend psychological depth, body horror, and biting satire.
1. Men (2022)
Alex Garland’s Men is a visceral psychological horror that delves into the cyclical trauma of grief and self-perception. It follows Harper (Jessie Buckley), a woman reeling from the trauma of her husband’s death. Seeking solace, she retreats to a remote English countryside manor, but her peaceful getaway quickly turns disturbing as she encounters a series of increasingly strange and threatening men in the village—all of whom share a striking resemblance, played by Rory Kinnear.
As Harper’s interactions with these men grow more unsettling, the film weaves together themes of guilt, trauma, and patriarchal oppression. Garland uses surreal and nightmarish imagery to examine Harper’s emotional and psychological state, particularly her feelings of guilt and fear following the tragic end of her marriage. The men she encounters seem to embody different forms of misogyny and manipulation, forcing Harper to confront her inner turmoil in an increasingly horrific and visceral way.
Like The Substance, Men explores self-identity under duress, using horror as a vehicle to portray deep-seated psychological fears. Both films tackle themes of perception and the horrors of one’s inner life with a visually stunning approach to disturbing themes.
2. Dead Ringers (1988)
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While the 2023 Prime Video reworking starring Rachel Weisz would be a better fit for this list of movies like The Substance, David Cronenberg’s 1988 Dead Ringers serves better. The film is centered on the eerie relationship between identical twin gynecologists, Elliot and Beverly Mantle, both played by Jeremy Irons. The brothers are renowned in their field and share everything in their lives, including patients and lovers, often swapping identities without others knowing. However, their lives begin to unravel when Beverly, the more sensitive and introverted twin, becomes romantically attached to Claire (Geneviève Bujold), an actress who comes to them for treatment.
Beverly’s obsession with Claire drives a wedge between the twins, pulling him into a downward spiral of paranoia and drug addiction. As his mental state deteriorates, he begins to develop increasingly disturbing delusions about female anatomy, leading him to design bizarre gynecological instruments and perform questionable procedures. Elliot, who has always been the more dominant of the two, attempts to intervene, but his efforts only deepen their shared descent into madness.
Now a cult classic, Dead Ringers is known for its meticulous body horror which shares with The Substance a fascination with identity, physical transformation, and the blurred line between psychological and bodily autonomy. Both films reflect on control and self-destruction, wrapped in a deeply unsettling medical context that reveals hidden horrors.
3. Starry Eyes (2014)
Starry Eyes, directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, is a gruesome tale about the cost of fame. The film follows Sarah Walker (Alex Essoe), a struggling young actress desperate to make it in Hollywood. Sarah works a dead-end job and faces constant rejection, but her ambition and desire for fame drive her to endure even the most demeaning auditions. One day, she auditions for a mysterious production company, Astraeus Pictures, for a role in their new film. The audition process quickly takes a disturbing turn, as Sarah is pushed to her psychological and physical limits by the casting director, who insists on extreme acts of submission to “prove” her dedication to the role.
As Sarah becomes more deeply involved with Astraeus, she is promised the fame and success she’s always dreamed of, but at a horrifying cost. She must submit to a dark, occult ritual, which leads to a grotesque physical and mental transformation. Sarah’s body begins to deteriorate as she is reborn in a monstrous new image, losing her humanity to attain the twisted ideals of Hollywood stardom.
Much like The Substance, Starry Eyes is one of those movies that critiques the entertainment industry’s hunger for youth and obedience, using horror to expose the price of ambition and the frightening cost of self-reinvention.
4. Titane (2021)
Directed by Julia Ducournau, whose debut film Raw could have made it to this list of movies like The Substance too, the 2021 provocative body horror thriller, Titane follows Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), a woman with a titanium plate in her skull following a childhood car accident. Now an adult, Alexia works as a showgirl at car shows, where she develops an unsettling attraction to metal and machinery. This obsession leads her down a violent, surreal path, beginning with a shocking sequence of murders and a mysterious encounter with a car that results in an unexplained pregnancy.
After a violent spree, Alexia finds herself on the run from authorities. To evade capture, she disguises herself as a boy and assumes the identity of Adrien, a child who went missing years ago. She’s taken in by Adrien’s father, Vincent (Vincent Lindon), a lonely, grief-stricken fire captain who clings to this newfound “son.” A strange and tense relationship develops between the two, as Vincent struggles with his own insecurities and addiction to steroids, while Alexia continues to undergo disturbing physical changes due to her unusual pregnancy.
Both Titane and The Substance showcase protagonists who grapple with inner and outer transformations, pushing the boundaries of bodily autonomy. They also tackle themes of beauty, repulsion, and self-perception in a world where identity and appearance are at odds with one another.
5. Birth/Rebirth (2023)
Birth/Rebirth, directed by Laura Moss, is a modern reimagining of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein set in a medical horror landscape. The story follows Rose (Marin Ireland), a reclusive pathologist with a chilling fascination for reanimation, and Celie (Judy Reyes), a compassionate maternity nurse. When Celie’s young daughter, Lila, tragically dies, Rose seizes the opportunity to test her experimental research, successfully reanimating Lila’s body in her lab.
As the resurrected Lila returns to life, she requires daily medical interventions to stay alive, forcing Rose and Celie into an uneasy alliance. While Rose views Lila as an experimental subject, Celie sees her as her daughter, leading to increasingly tense and complex emotional dynamics between the two women. As they navigate their shared goal of keeping Lila “alive,” they’re forced to confront the ethical and emotional toll of playing god, grappling with questions of motherhood, mortality, and the human cost of scientific obsession.
As far as movies like The Substance are concerned, Birth/Rebirth explores the idea of creating a new identity in a way that questions ethical limits. Through its surgical, eerie aesthetic and meditations on life, youth, and obsession, Birth/Rebirth evokes the same mix of fascination and horror, creating a thought-provoking journey through scientific transgressions.
6. Under the Skin (2013)
Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin is a haunting and atmospheric film that follows an alien (played by Scarlett Johansson) who takes on the appearance of a woman and travels through Scotland, luring unsuspecting men into her van. She seduces them, and once they enter her lair, she traps them in a strange, surreal environment where they meet a gruesome fate.
As the film unfolds, we learn that the alien’s purpose is to harvest human men, though the details of her mission and the larger context of her existence are deliberately obscure. Over time, however, the alien begins to experience human emotions—such as curiosity, guilt, and empathy—leading her to question her role and identity. This emotional evolution complicates her mission, culminating in her encountering a man who evokes a stronger emotional response, ultimately forcing her to confront her own humanity.
This chilling sci-fi thriller combines existential horror with mesmerizing visuals as the protagonist’s sense of self begins to unravel. Like The Substance, Under the Skin reveals how outside forces can distort one’s identity and body. Both films lean on body horror to question what it means to be human, as each character faces intense psychological and physical transformations in their journey of self-discovery.
7. The Skin I Live In (2011)
The psychosexual thriller by Pedro Almodovar tells the story of Dr. Robert Ledgard, a brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by the tragic death of his wife in a car accident. Driven by grief and obsession, he dedicates himself to creating synthetic skin that is resistant to any kind of damage. The film takes a dark turn when Ledgard experiments on a mysterious woman named Vera, who he keeps captive in his mansion. Vera’s past and her connection to Ledgard’s deceased wife gradually unravel, revealing a complex web of secrets and revenge.
With an unsettling exploration of bodily control and identity, The Skin I Live In shares The Substance’s interest in the idea of selfhood being controlled or altered by others. Both films push their protagonists to question their bodies and appearances, examining how external changes can lead to deep-seated existential horror.
8. Old (2021)
M. Night Shyamalan’s Old centers around a group of vacationers who find themselves trapped on a mysterious beach where time moves at an accelerated rate. The story begins as several families arrive at a secluded beach resort, hoping for a relaxing getaway. Among them are Guy (Gael García Bernal) and Prisca (Vicky Krieps), a couple whose strained marriage is affecting their young children. Shortly after settling on the picturesque beach, the group notices an eerie phenomenon: everyone is aging rapidly, experiencing years of life in mere hours. Children grow into teenagers, adults develop age-related health issues, and everyone faces the unsettling reality of imminent death.
As the characters scramble to understand what’s happening, they uncover unsettling clues about the beach’s strange properties and grapple with the terrifying effects of accelerated time. With each passing moment, they face irreversible changes and heightened vulnerabilities. Struggling to escape, they wrestle with both external and internal conflicts—especially as buried secrets, insecurities, and regrets surface under the pressure of their swiftly advancing lives.
Like The Substance, Old uses the fear of aging to examine self-worth and vanity, as each character confronts the fleeting nature of youth. Both films tackle the terrifying prospect of uncontrollable bodily change, with each moment passing as a haunting reminder of mortality and the impossibility of escape.
