The Substance, a gruesome body-horror feature, had its world premiere Sunday night in competition at the Cannes Fest and was greeted with lengthy standing ovation at the Grand Lumiere Theatre.

It is the sophomore directorial effort and English-language debut of the French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, which she wrote, produced and edited.

The Substance stars Demi Moore, Dennis Quaid and Margaret Qualley (Qualley also appears in another competition title at this year’s fest, Kinds of Kindness), all of whom attended the screening.

Produced by Working Title’s art house chiefs Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, the film will receive U.S. release via MUBI.

Other territories have sold to other distributors during the fest.

In addition to cast, the audience included Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Abel Ferrara and Carla Bruni.

Director Coralie Fargeat

French director Fargeat, who’s 47, is best known for her 2017 debut feature Revenge, for which she received awards from various film festivals across the world.

Fargeat lists David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, David Lynch, and Michael Haneke as filmmakers who have influenced her.