Saccharine – Movie Review
Following the premiere at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year (a second-time affair for filmmaker Natalie Erika James, who debuted her first feature film Relic there in 2020), Australian-made horror continues its 2020s lineage with the supernaturally-infused body horror Saccharine, a confronting and empathetic exploration of eating disorders and the lengths one will go to when absorbed by the anxieties of their experience.
The story follows Hana (Midori Francis), a timid and reserved young medical student who is consumed by the societal standards that are imposed on young women through social media – be young, be hot, be skinny. But during her doomscroll sessions, Hana comes across a personal trainer, Alanya (Madeleine Madden). In an attempt to find some happiness for herself, Hana begins to train with Alanya, and through their bond, develops feelings for Alanya, but stops herself from pursuing it because of her own self-confidence issues with her weight and appearance. That is until Hana runs into an old school friend who has lost a dramatic amount of weight, and when Hana enquires as to what supplement was used to assist the weight-loss, the answer leads Hana down a far more sinister path than she expected.
The weight-loss supplement, you ask… human ashes. Welcome to the horror genre.
There are a lot of layers to Natalie Erika James’ third feature film. The foundations she builds to explore Hana’s relationship with food, social media, and the people around her stem from many places. Hana’s mother is a control freak who is constantly questioning her decisions, while her father is a looming presence hiding away on the couch, in the shadows created by a television’s glow. Her algorithm is all about losing weight, being hot, and the dopamine rush that comes from watching people who live the life you don’t. And Hana’s relationships outside of the screen seem almost non-existent outside of a work friend (played by Danielle Macdonald) who seems like the only person who accepts Hana for who she is. Until Alanya comes along, and that rush of attention and desire overtake Hana’s being, and the exploration of how these events can fundamentally change oneself delves into its more horror-leaning tendencies.
While there are a lot of narrative elements that build out Saccharine, unfortunately they aren’t explored with enough depth to be entirely moving. It’s easy to feel a lot of sympathy for Hana, because of the relatability of this modern day dilemma and a truly fantastic performance from Midori Francis, but the script never feels like it wants to go further than the surface level of the issues it presents. Rather, the moments where Hana is going through a grounded, human struggle feel drawn out and repetitive, turning a movie that feels like it could be a strong 90-odd minute affair into a sub 2-hour story that overstays its welcome. While Francis definitely carries the emotional weight of the narrative, and gives a performance that is both physically and emotionally engaging, it can only do so much to inject a bit more substance into the themes that Saccharine is attempting to explore.
But, where Saccharine thrives, and what is undoubtedly a strength of James’ filmmaking, is the horror itself, both visually and atmospherically. Saccharine is a stylish looking horror film, with sharp cinematography that weaponises light and reflections to create some incredibly unsettling imagery. The side-effect of Hana’s supplement (reminder: human ashes) is that she sees an entity like being of the person she is consuming in reflections, often cutlery and utensils to hammer home the “eating” aspect of the horror. There are some fantastic and tense set pieces throughout the film that maintain James’ status as a filmmaker who can really get under the skin of the audience through her visual style. The tension is handled very well, and the body horror that unfolds as the film goes on is off-putting and grotesque in exactly the way it needs to be for the narrative.
Despite a great premise, strong visual style, decent scares, and a phenomenal lead performance from Midori Francis, Saccharine falls just a little too short with its narrative exploration of the themes that fuel the horror, leading to a film that is too drawn out to feel the full effect of its punch.
Saccharine is in Australian cinemas July 9
