No one could take their eyes off Demi Moore at the premiere of her new film, The Substance, in Los Angeles on September 16. Joined by her daughters Rumer, 36, Scout, 33 and Tallulah, 30, the 61-year-old movie star shone in a red, strapless Oscar de la Renta gown.
The floor-length number—with metallic paillettes that resembled a biblical stained-glass window—was plucked from the house’s pre-spring 2024 collection. Moore’s stylist Brad Goreski accessorised with diamond earrings, a bracelet and a stack of rings by Marli. Omitted: her little dog Pilaf.
The Substance sees Moore play Elizabeth Sparkle, an ageing Hollywood actress-turned-aerobics-workout-host who gets fired by her vulgar network boss (played by Dennis Quaid) because she is now deemed ‘too old’. Somehow, Elizabeth gets involved in a body enhancement program known as The Substance. This film is sci-fi, remember. So, after many injections, Elizabeth goes into a state of hibernation and a younger version of herself is born in Sue (played by Margaret Qualley).
Premiering in Cannes in May where it received a 15-minute standing ovation, early reviews are calling Moore’s performance the best of her career and others are tipping her for an Oscar nomination.
“I’ve never had a film at Cannes, so I had no idea what to expect,” Moore recently said on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. “It was humbling, especially to be in a theatre with 2000 people who love cinema. It was the first time I was seeing it with all of the effects and everything, too.
It is a unique, out-of-the box way of delving into the subject of ageing. [It’s also about]the male perspective of the idealised woman that we, as women, have bought into. It’s about compare and despair and the violence we have against ourselves when we look in the mirror.”
The Substance hits Australian cinemas from September 19.
