Demi Moore tells PEOPLE she hadn't met Margaret Qualley before becoming her costar in Coralie Fargeat’s new horror movie 'The Substance,' but had enough 'indirect connections' that they 'felt like we

The actress is seemingly everywhere this year, and in “The Substance,” she delves into an unusually disturbing new role.

“The Substance” was lauded upon its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it was up for the Palme d’Or and won the best screenplay award. Earlier this month, it took home the Midnight Madness people’s choice award at the Toronto International Film Fest. “The Substance” is currently playing in theaters.

Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid and more stars hit the red carpet for the L.A. premiere of their film, 'The Substance.' See all the photos.

Directed and written by Coralie Fargeat, the film follows the story of TV star and aerobics instructor Elisabeth Sparkle (Moore), who is fired from her own show on her 50th birthday by her boss, Dennis Quaid's cartoonishly misogynist TV exec Harvey – a not-even-slightly-subtle iteration of disgraced abuser Harvey Weinstein.

Moore and Qualley give bravura performances, both surely having faced the scrutiny women in Hollywood and the world are under. Moore allows the camera to film closeups of her thighs and the stomach of a woman who has had kids,

"Unfortunately there is no magic boob potion, so we had to glue those on," the actress said of playing her character, Sue, in the body-horror film