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A new body horror film is causing strikes in cinemas around the world due to its extreme gore.

Those who attended screenings of the new film shared their experiences sitting through the two-hour-plus title while viewers around them decided enough was enough.

The film in question is The substancedirected by Coralie Fargeat and named one of the best titles at this year’s Cannes Film Festival The Independentwho predicted that Thrill would receive a “love it or hate it” response upon release.

The film, distributed by Mubi and starring Demi Moore, follows an aging Hollywood star who takes a black market drug to create a younger version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley.

Its tantalizing plot lured in moviegoers who were clearly unprepared for how extreme things would get; The Independent called before The substance “A body horror that goes places that even body horror fans will be shocked by.”

After seeing the film, one moviegoer wrote: “My review of The substance is that people left our screening and I don’t think we have enough films where that could happen,” and another explained, “Some people left the screening.” The substance We were there last night. One of the most violent films I have ever seen.”

One person added: “I’ve seen thousands of films and it’s very hard to shock me, but this wonderfully insane film was amazing on the 11th. ‘The Substance’ is not for the faint of heart (during my viewing several people…walked out mid-film) but is an instant cult classic. You have been warned.”

Others who made it were shocked by what they had just seen. One X/Twitter user wrote: “Afterwards The substance At the end, the whole theater was dead quiet and motionless as the credits rolled, and then someone just asked, ‘Is everyone OK?’ And everyone said ‘No’ in unison.”

The divisive nature of the film was highlighted by this post: “The substance It’s the only time I’ve ever been to a movie theater and everyone clapped at the end. Two people walked out 20 minutes later. Three more went out later.”

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It’s a shame people are leaving, though, because they’ll certainly miss it: the last 30 minutes contain some of the most outrageous and daring scenes to be shown in cinemas in years – and at Cannes they played to a packed audience extremely good.

The substance is now in cinemas.