Demi Moore's Gory Horror FilmThe SubstanceQualifies as Comedy at Golden Globes, and Fans Are Divided

Mar. 15, 2025

Demi Moore in ‘The Substance’.Photo:MUBI/YouTube

MUBI/YouTube

IsThe Substancea comedy or drama?

That’s what had to be decided for the wild horror film starringDemi MooreandMargaret Qualleyahead of theGolden Globe Awards, which have separate categories for dramas and comedies or musicals.

After reports thatThe Substancewassubmitted in the comedy category, fans have thoughts.

Other social media users were less ambivalent. “nothing about this film says comedy,”responded@harv, adding, “what are they even doing.”

Margaret Qualley and Demi Moore at the Los Angeles Premiere of ‘The Substance’ on Sept. 16.Jon Kopaloff/Getty

Jon Kopaloff/Getty

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The Substance“is a drama,”said@Aphoticphoton. Of the Globes, they added, “Hate that the musical or comedy [has] become the miscellaneous category for movies.”

Other fans online found the Mubi film’s submission as a comedy a perfect fit. “I honestly can’t believe anyone would call this anything other than a comedy, especially considering the third act,”commenteduser shrimptini on Reddit. (Spoiler alert: the final stretch ofThe Substanceinvolves a grotesquely misshapen monster version of Moore and Qualley’s characters, a live New Year’s Eve televised show and fountains of bright-red blood.)

“Yeah, it’s tragic, uncomfortable, and visceral, but it has better intentional comic timing throughout than most movies I’ve seen this year,”tweeted@adamj_film.

Another X user, weeklydeekly, agreed,weighing inon different definitions of humor: “It’s not that it’s ‘haha’ funny. It’s very ‘what in the actual [f—]’ funny.”

Responding to other user’s notion that “comedy is seen as an insult here,” @curtmegaposted, “Saying and acknowledging thatThe Substanceis a comedy (it very much IS satire) doesn’t undermine its impact. If anything, it reinforces the fact that it’s working on so many levels.”

Demi Moore in ‘The Substance’.MUBI/Youtube

MUBI/Youtube

For writerZach Schonfeld, Fargeat’s movie is not about making a serious impact: “The Substanceis a highly enjoyable trashy B movie with an A-list cast that has been widely mistaken for an Important Message movie, which has had devastating consequences for the discourse.”

In hisreview for PEOPLE, Tom Gliatto calledThe Substance“an absurdly grotesque study of how women are pressured to preserve their youth at punishing, humiliating cost” as well as “a chance for Moore to prove herself at comedy. She succeeds. Her performance is an escalating howl of panic and desperation that’s also acidly sarcastic and ludicrously funny.”

The Substanceis in theaters now, then streaming on Mubi Oct. 31. The Golden Globes will take place Jan. 5, withNikki Glaser as host.

source: people.com