by Anthony O’Connor
Worth: $15.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Midori Francis, Danielle Macdonald, Madeleine Madden, Robert Taylor, Showko Showfukutei, Annie Shapero
Intro:
Brimming with style, attitude and chutzpah, Saccharine is a meal that overwhelms as much as it engages …
Aussie-American film director Natalie Erika James burst onto the scene in 2020 with the nuanced, disturbing allegorical dementia horror Relic. The filmmaker’s follow up was Apartment 7A (2024), a direct prequel to Rosemary’s Baby (1968), that was visually intriguing, boasted a tremendous performance from Julia Garner, yet lacked something essential. Like the 2011 prequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing, Apartment 7A just didn’t do enough to escape the shadow of its superior source material. Still, second films are hard, everyone can have an off day. All of which brings us to Saccharine: James’ third film and oh my, this thing swings for the fences! Although some of those swings land a lot better than others.
Saccharine is the story of Hana (Midori Francis) an introspective medical student who struggles with her weight, deals with a persistent binge-eating disorder and has a massive crush on spunky fitness maven, Alanya (Madeleine Madden). After running into an old school friend, Hana chances upon a weight loss cure that involves necking pills filled with human ash aka the sooty remains from cremations. The pills cost a pretty penny, so thrifty Hana decides to use a cadaver from her university – a morbidly obese woman nicknamed “Bertha” – to knock up some DIY diet pills. At first, things go really well, Hana starts dropping the pounds, becomes more confident and even grows closer with Alanya. But what are those fleshy shapes that she keeps seeing in certain reflections? And why is she always so damn hungry?
The first thing you need to know about Saccharine is that it is genuinely jaw-droppingly gorgeous. James announced herself as a visual stylist with Relic, but she really turns it up here, delivering a sumptuous, tactile, sensual, toey and frequently absolutely disgusting assault on the senses. Not since Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024) has a film been simultaneously so aesthetically enticing and repelling. When Saccharine is in full body horror mode it’s often deft, clever and well observed. The problem, however, revolves around the second thing you need to know about the film: the script has no idea when to stop. Saccharine does a great job of showing body dysmorphia through a genre lens, but then also wants to be about a hungry ghost that slowly drives Hana to more and more bizarre acts. These two plot strands are never woven elegantly into the narrative, making the film’s already too-long runtime feel poorly paced and inconsistent. Honestly, this thing has more endings than Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and while creatives making big swings is certainly appreciated, there’s nothing like a good script editor to keep things on track, gang.
Performances are decent, although Midori Francis never realistically looks chubby in the early going and poor Danielle Macdonald gets saddled with a couple of howlingly mawkish lines that feel dictated by TikTok. Madeleine Madden is absolutely stunning as the object of Hana’s lust, Alanya, however, and manages to bring genuine depth and pathos to a role that could otherwise be very one note.
Ultimately, Saccharine is a good horror film. In fact, Saccharine is two good horror films, wrestling with one another as they struggle to fit inside the same narrative skin. Beautifully shot, mostly well acted and boasting some of the wilder body horror moments in recent Aussie genre film history, it also struggles with focus and discipline and doesn’t quite know what note to leave on. Brimming with style, attitude and chutzpah, Saccharine is a meal that overwhelms as much as it engages, but will satisfy those who crave something disturbingly delicious if perhaps a tad too rich and very oversalted.
