Saccharine, 2026.
Written and Directed by Natalie Erika James.
Starring Midori Francis, Danielle Macdonald, Madeleine Madden, Joseph Baldwin, Robert Taylor, Emily Milledge, Lisa Crittenden, Lucy Goleby, and Showko Showfukutei.
SYNOPSIS:
Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.
Once body-dysmorphic medical student Hana (Midori Francis) is found out by fitness instructor Alayna (Madeleine Madden), who she is attracted to, that part of her weight loss regimen involves taking pills, the two get into a debate about the importance of the methods used to achieve a healthier body and the mindset behind it. It alludes to more complex discussions to be had in Natalie Erika James’ Saccharine that the film not only never fully makes good on, but flat-out fumbles with increasingly frustrated messaging that peaks with a final scene of unnecessary shock value reductive to the themes being explored (not to pick on this film specifically, but storytellers losing their way for one last attempt at a scare or disturbing imagery is a recurring problem in modern horror).
It needs to be stressed that these are no ordinary pills, but an effective black market weight loss drug imbued with human ashes. They also basically cost an arm and a leg, which is to say money that Hana doesn’t have, prompting her to start sneaking home some body parts from creepily detailed cadavers her and her peers are working on. Among those partners is the heavier Josie (Danielle Macdonald), confident in her weight and appearance, most importantly, happy about it, who also gives Hana a stern talking when the length of her unhealthy weight loss journey eventually comes to light. It also requires mentioning that, from the beginning, Hana isn’t heavyset but rather a standard average-sized woman, which adds a layer of unsettling self-destruction to this misguided attempt at self-betterment.
Nevertheless, since Hana is getting her human ashes straight from the source of a dead body she is in contact with every day, apparently, that is grounds for a supernatural haunting. Appearing invisible only to him, hurt in convex-shaped reflections, it is initially unclear what this plus-sized cadaver ghost wants, which means there are plenty of jump scare attempts and several scenes of journaling inquiring about why this is happening and what the motives could possibly be. The basic premise is that, while Hana is losing dangerous amounts of weight through these pills (a fresh and relevant take on body horror itself that also isn’t fully capitalized on), the ghost won’t be satisfied until she starts binge eating again.
Gradually becoming threatening if Hana doesn’t comply, those scenes are admittedly intensely hard to watch, elevated by hypnotically gross imagery. Unfortunately, the storytelling doesn’t match the consistently impressive visuals, which have become a reliable calling card for the director. Once the rules become clear, Saccharine settles into something conventional that is both entertaining and entirely ridiculous, all while doing a disservice to sensitive themes. By the time the film introduces Hana’s parents to flesh out her psychology, one can’t help but wonder whether they are watching a different take on The Whale, as it continues to pile on, simply put, too much excess.
It is evident that director Natalie Erika James aligns with Josie’s perspective that happiness comes more from being comfortable in one’s own skin than from weight loss for the sake of fulfilling unrealistic expectations pursued for the wrong reasons (it really is just about impressing the fitness trainer, which makes for another underdeveloped subplot). Like mixing together too many different kinds of food, though, Saccharine becomes a muddled mess thematically.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
