Saccharine combines horror with body dysmorphia
At one time or another in our lives, most people can relate to the desire to drop a few pounds. Whether it’s to fit into a specific garment or to make a lifestyle change, it is a fairly universal theme.
Australian horror film Saccharine follows a med student whose struggle with weight loss turns to dramatic and unconventional methods to help shed her unwanted pounds.
Writer and Director, Natalie Erika James, most widely known for Relic (2020), gives us a film of uncomfortably close camera angles with montages of excessive eating binges that give viewers a visceral connection to the main character Hana as she feeds her unending hunger, trying to stave off a mysterious side effect of her new weight loss treatment.
The film mixes supernatural horror with strong themes of body image, self-esteem, diet culture, and beauty standards in a way that visually haunting and mesmerizingly repulsive.
Lead Actor Midori Francis (Grey’s Anatomy and Dash & Lily) delivers a compelling performance as Hana. She conveys the characters vulnerability and increasing paranoia beautifully.
Supporting actresses Madeline Madden (The Wheel of Time) plays Hana’s love interest and Danielle Macdonald (Dumplin’ and Bird Box) as Hana’s best friend round out the cast nicely.
Even though the film occasionally feels drawn out before gaining momentum once again near the end, Saccharine succeeds as an unsettling horror experience, and is sure to leave fans satiated.
Saccharine opened at US theaters on May 22 and will make its streaming debut later this summer on Shudder.
