If Demi Moore wins the best actress award for The Substance, it will be a landmark moment – outstanding performances in the horror genre are too often overlooked. Could that be set to change?

In 2024's The Substance, irresistible temptation leads to unthinkable transformation. The gory flick includes all the hallmarks of a classic horror film: monsters, blood and an uneasy sense of suspense that keeps your eyes glued to the screen. Even come the literal bloodbath finale, it's hard to look away.

This article contains spoilers for The Substance.

Love it or hate it, Coralie Fargeat's grotesque, fairytale-gone-wrong is one of the year's breakout films, starring Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a former film star who gets fired from her current gig as a celebrity aerobics instructor as she turns 50. While critics and movie-goers agree that The Substance was one of the year's most arresting box-office hits – rating the film 89% and 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively – it wasn't until Moore won the Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture – musical or comedy that murmurs about an awards sweep began to crescendo. Could a by-the-book scary, fantastical horror film win big at this year's Oscars? It is nominated in five categories, including best picture and best actress for Moore.

So perhaps The Substance isn't a classic horror film at all. The horror-comedy, deemed a "feminist masterpiece" by some, hinges on a familiar premise with a grotesque twist: what would happen if we got everything we wanted after all? After Elisabeth takes a mysterious lime-green "substance", she gives birth to a younger, bouncier version of herself – but not without this process taking a toll on the middle-aged celebrity's body. The film is an especially prescient take on womanhood, beauty and ageing in today's image-obsessed culture. Moore herself has touched upon why the acclaim from this film has meant so much to her, sharing that her Golden Globe win was the first time she "ever won anything as an actor" in a career spanning more than 45 years.

A win for her at this year's Oscars, coupled with her first nomination in a five-decade career, would be momentous. But it would be an even bigger moment if The Substance won best picture – it is one of only seven horror films ever nominated for the award, and if it won, it would become one of only of two to do so.

Demi Moore has explicitly mentioned the lack of recognition and accolades that horror films (and the people who make them) receive from the awards system and the wider establishment. While accepting her award for best actress at the 2025 Critic's Choice Awards for her performance in The Substance, Moore told the audience: "I am so grateful, not just for my performance, but that you have highlighted this film, this........

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