It was considered a “risky” film selection by Thierry Frémaux that divided critics but found a large swath of defenders (including our chief film critic Nicholas Bell) and now Coralie Fargeat will have its North American premiere at the fest that showcased her feature debut — Revenge (read review) back in 2017. Mubi landed the rights to The Substance prior to the film’s world premiere. In our review, Nicholas points to how it “starts out in slow, familiar territory before slamming into fever pitch for a Grand Guignol bloodbath which might just be the best bit of straight faced body horror since Cronenberg’s clutch of 1980s titles solidified its merits as a veritable sub-genre.” The film won the Best Screenplay award in Cannes. Here are the Midnight Madness selections – mostly World Premiere selections.
Dead Mail – Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy | USA – Canadian Premiere
Dead Talents Society – John Hsu | Taiwan – North American Premiere
Else – Thibault Emin | France/Belgium (WP)
Escape from the 21st Century – Yang LI | China – International Premiere
Friendship – Andrew DeYoung | USA (WP)
Ick – Joseph Kahn | USA (WP)
It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This – Rachel Kempf, Nick Toti | USA – Canadian Premiere
The Gesuidouz – Kenichi Ugana | Japan (WP)
The Shadow Strays – Timo Tjahjanto | Indonesia (WP)
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat OPENING FILM – North American Premiere
