Demi Moore Horror Film ‘The Substance’ to Open Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness Section

“The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat’s body horror film starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, will be the opening night film in the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival’s Midnight Madness section, TIFF organizers announced Thursday.

The Mubi film will make its North American premiere at TIFF after having its world premiere in the main competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The extremely graphic and gory film, in which Moore’s character undergoes a treatment that creates a younger and “more perfect” version of herself, won the Best Screenplay prize from the Cannes jury and stirred up awards talk for Moore’s unhinged performance.

“The Substance” is one of 10 films in the Midnight Madness section, which in the past has showcased films including “Pearl,” “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story,” “Titane,” “Assassination Nation” and the 2017 reboot of “Halloween.”

Other films in the section include two past Midnight Madness directors, Joseph Kahn’s “Ick” and Timo Tjahjanto’s “The Shadow Strays,” along with Thibault Emin’s “Else,” Andrew DeYoung’s “Friendship” and Kenichi Ugana’s “The Gesuidouz.”

The films will screen every night at 11:59 p.m. during the festival.

The Midnight Madness announcement concluded a week in which TIFF also announced its galas and special presentations and its Discovery and Platform sections. Additional announcements will be made the week of Aug. 6, with the schedule announced Aug. 13.

The Toronto International Film Festival will run from Sept. 5-15.

The Midnight Madness section:

“Dead Mail,” Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy | USA
Canadian Premiere
Sales Title

“Dead Talents Society,” John Hsu | Taiwan
North American Premiere

“Else,” Thibault Emin | France/Belgium
World Premiere
Sales Title

“Escape from the 21st Century,” Yang LI | China
International Premiere
Sales Title

“Friendship,” Andrew DeYoung | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title

“Ick,” Joseph Kahn | USA
World Premiere
Sales Title

“It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This,” Rachel Kempf, Nick Toti | USA
Canadian Premiere
Sales Title

“The Gesuidouz,” Kenichi Ugana | Japan
World Premiere
Sales Title

“The Shadow Strays,” Timo Tjahjanto | Indonesia
World Premiere

“The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat | United Kingdom/USA/France (Opening film)
North American Premiere

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