10 Horror Movies Audiences Couldn't Handle

Bringing Demi Moore back into the limelight, in a role that feels super close to the bone, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance oozed across screens last year. Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, an ageing dancer and TV personality shifted out of her regular spot by her producer and forced to turn to other means to recapture the success of her youth.

The “other means” in question is the Substance, a black market drug that allows her to spawn a second self - Margaret Qualley’s Sue - who is youthful, sprightly, tight-bottomed, and wrinkle-free. Unfortunately, though technically the same person, the two women (and aspects of Elisabeth’s personality) begin battling for control over one life, ignoring the rules of the Substance, and bringing about dire consequences for them both.

This body horror feels like prime Cronenberg, and this might explain why people walked out of screenings thanks to the shock factor of the visuals and the frequently violent nature of the film’s already difficult-to-watch scenes. Strangely enough, though, most reported departures happened early on, up to the midway mark - long before the film’s final act where things really take a turn for the eurrgh.