13 Movies to Watch If You Liked Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’
These days, it can be a challenge to source movie recommendations that weren’t generated by an algorithm. Even if you’re able to shun the Frankenstein’s monster known as Google AI, most streaming services have back-end equations ready to redirect you before the credits roll. And I don’t know about you, but I’d like to minimize the input of robots in my life, where possible.
So if you’re craving guidance that’s a little more bespoke, you’ve come to the right place. Think of me as your local video store ghoul, eager to supply a syllabus to help you become the most well-watched genre connoisseur you can be. I promise to leave no tombstone unturned and to only recommend films I genuinely think are worth your time.
With all that out of the way, good news! If Coralie Fargeat’s surprisingly awards-friendly The Substance made you grimace and grin, there are plenty of films ready to scratch the same itch. Avoiding the obvious where possible (sorry, Revenge-heads), I’ve assembled a collection of movies that share The Substance’s DNA. From hagsploitation classics to Hollywood-set horrors: here are 13 movies you should seek out if you enjoyed Coralie Fargeat’s fantastically fleshy The Substance.
Bear in mind that the following contains contextual spoilers.
1. Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
The Substance wheels and deals in the hagsploitation subgenre in order to consciously critique the no-win scenario women face in the public eye. This is a marked step up from other, lazier filmmakers who uncritically exploit the visual shorthand of “oooh look, an elderly naked body, how gross is that?” as a cheap way to shock their audiences.
Either way, both approaches are indebted to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, a film so campy and iconic it single-handedly pioneered the psycho-biddy subgenre. The film follows Jane (Bette Davis), an aging former child star whose life now depends on her paraplegic sister Blanche (Joan Crawford), who was injured in a car accident that Jane may have caused. When Blanche’s own acting career sees a resurgence, Jane rightfully fears that her sister will have her committed, forcing her to go the distance to keep Blanche under her control. Sisterly rivalry, former fame, and an obsession with aging make this cult classic a perfect pairing with Fargeat’s latest.
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2. Seconds (1966)
As unsettling and nightmarish as the day it was released, Seconds is an unmissable watch for fans of The Substance, which owes a good deal of its story beats to John Frankenheimer’s masterpiece. The film follows Arthur (John Randolph), a depressed, middle-aged banker who agrees to the terms of the shadowy “Company” in order to secure a new identity. However, even when he’s reborn as the good-looking, culturally-embedded Tony (Rock Hudson, in a career-best performance), Arthur’s dissatisfaction continues to fester. Featuring some truly diabolical cinematography from the great James Wong Howe and a haunting score by Jerry Goldsmith, Seconds is a brooding, paranoid terror trip that is completely unrecognizable as a 1960s studio film.
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3. Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde (1971)
Of the 100-plus adaptations of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” one film stands head, shoulders, and tits above the rest. Don’t let the provocative title fool you—Roy Ward Baker’s shockingly queer, sexy, and tragic take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella is a bonafide genre gem.
In an obsessive attempt to discover a panacea, Dr. Jekyll (Ralph Bates) accidentally creates a serum that releases his female counterpart (Martine Beswick). Struggling to maintain control of their shared body, Dr. Jekyll and his “sister” Edwina become the focus of a murder investigation (those female hormones had to come from somewhere!). It’s 97 minutes of pure Hammer Horror bliss. The film is pulpy, provocative, and even features its own twisted version of The Substance’s third-act “monstro.”
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4. Dorian Gray in the Mirror of the Yellow Press (1984)
Adaptations of Oscar Wilde’s 1890 novel are either as dull as dirt (sorry, Albert Lewin) or balls-to-the-wall insanity. It’s the latter case with Ulrike Ottinger’s take on the tale, which reimagines Wilde’s fable of a man with a portrait that ages in his place in more, uh, capitalistic terms. Only a West German lesbian could have directed this movie, believe me.
Delphine Syrig stars as Dr. Mabuse (yes, that Dr. Mabuse), the head of a media conglomerate keen on world domination. To cause a stir, Dr. Mabuse sets about manufacturing a personality in the company’s image: the seductive, wealthy playboy Dorian Gray (Veruschka von Lehndroff). Come for the lavish set design and high camp. Stay for the reveal that Dorian Gray’s chauffeur is a dog.
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5. Dead Ringers (1988)
Five Oscar nominations for The Substance suggest that the Academy’s long-standing prejudice against the horror genre is on the decline. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to cut them any slack for their past sins. And of the long list of horror films the industry kicked to the curb like a dead rat, Dead Ringers is an especially egregious snub.
Jeremy Irons stars as Elliot and Beverly Mantle, twin gynecologists who share everything but a body. Then again, this is a Cronenberg film; if they could crawl in and out of one another like Sue and Elizabeth, they’d do it in a heartbeat. Consequently, when a surprise love affair and festering jealousy start to threaten their codependency, the twins’ separation anxiety mutates into something more sinister.
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6. Death Becomes Her (1992)
Inarguably, the film about aging female celebrities making devilish pacts to recapture their youth only to abuse the fine print and suffer the consequences, Death Becomes Her walked so The Substance could amass Oscar nominations. Straddling the world of comedy and horror in a way that only the early 1990s could (thanks, Dick Smith!), what this camp classic lacks in nuanced feminism it more than makes up for in Tales from the Crypt-flavored irony.
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7. Junior (2011)
There are two big names in New French Extremity these days: The Substance director Coralie Fargeat and Julia Ducournau, an absolute madwoman who should have her face stamped on the Euro. And while the latter’s feature films, Raw and Titane, are household names amongst horror aficionados, Ducournau’s only short film isn’t as widely seen.
Which is a shame. In addition to featuring Garance Marillier’s debut performance, Junior is also a hilarious and unflinching portrait of how gross puberty is. The short reimagines adolescence through the language of body horror, pulling no punches and sparing no expense on the goo budget. Yassification awaits, but first, you must shed your skin.
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8. Starry Eyes (2014)
Like Elizabeth Sparkle, Sarah would do anything to make it in Hollywood. If selling her soul and being reborn is what it takes, so be it. Glow-ups are supposed to involve losing fingernails and turning into a lesion-riddled husk, right? A scrappier indie take on the “casting couch as deal with the devil” trope, Starry Eyes features some genuinely butthole-clenching body horror and a knockout lead performance from Alex Essoe as a tragic ingénue willing to go through Hell for a taste of fame.
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9. Reality+ (2014)
Personally, I love rubbernecking at first drafts. And while Fargeat’s short film doesn’t map 1:1 onto The Substance, the genetic similarities (and differences) are striking. In the not-too-distant future of Reality+, regular people use a groundbreaking intervention to perceive the idealized versions of themselves and others. Unfortunately, the service only lasts 12 hours. So if you’re not watching the clock, your date will discover your dark secret (that you’re a balding software engineer and not a 6’5” male model). The short film is much snappier and more sci-fi than its feature-length counterpart, with its commentary focused on everyday dysphoria rather than the pressures of celebrity.
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10. Cam (2018)
A gem in a sea of middling Netflix originals, Cam follows a young sex worker named Alice (Madeline Brewer) who supports herself through erotic, and increasingly violent, live streams. When Alice’s already fragile work-life balance is compromised by a competitor who looks exactly like her, she must scramble to uncover her doppelganger’s motive. Featuring a tense script from writer, producer, and former cam-girl Isa Mazzei and assured direction from then-green Daniel Goldhaber (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), Cam is one of the best identity horror films of the 2010s and a perfect pairing with the image-obsessed Substance.
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11. “Skincrawlers” Creepshow Episode (2019)
One of the key ingredients in The Substance is a distinct, chiding finger wag: “Be careful what you wish for! Follow the rules or else!” It’s playing in the same space as the Devil licking his lips while you sign your name on a contract. Or, in a more primeval sense, the cosmic cause-and-effect endemic in fairy tales meant to scare us straight.
This storytelling format will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s dabbled in Creepshow, the horror anthology series that spawned three feature films and a TV series on Shudder. One of the best segments of the Shudder series is “Skincrawlers” (S1E6), which tells of a quick-fix weight loss cure that is, in fact, fat-sucking prehistoric leeches. Delightfully gory in addition to being a (literally) side-splitting send-up of predatory fad diets, this bite-sized anthology segment is a must-watch if you enjoyed The Substance’s stranger, goopier bits.
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12. Sick of Myself (2022)
Films about the price of fame from the 1960s are all well and good. But celebrity in the 2020s is a different beast. Imagine trying to explain what a “milkshake duck” is to an old-timey MGM executive. Their brain would leak out of their ears.
Enter: Sick of Myself, a film that completely understands the self-destructive, freak shit we’re willing to do for our precious 15 minutes. The Norwegian dark comedy follows Signe (Kristine Kujath Thorp), a barista unable to cope with her boyfriend’s newfound success in the art world. Desperate for attention, Signe decides to feign illness to garner sympathy. When that doesn’t satisfy her need for public adoration, Signe resorts to more drastic, and disgusting, measures.
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13. A Different Man (2024)
2024’s other movie about a drug that makes you hot with ugly side effects, A Different Man is the best black-comedy in recent memory. Sebastian Stan stars as Edward, an aspiring actor who feels that his facial difference is robbing him of love, success, and happiness. However, after undergoing an experimental procedure that makes him conventionally attractive, Edward begins to discover that good looks don’t automatically entitle you to a good life.
If you’re the kind of person who likes both skin-sloughing body horror and movies where guys step on rakes for two hours, this is the movie for you.
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