IFC and Shudder have released the official trailer and poster for Saccharine, the sapphic body horror from writer/director Natalie Erika James (Relic, Apartment 7A), set to open in select theaters on Friday, May 22, 2026.
Saccharine follows Hana (Midori Francis), a lovelorn medical student who becomes terrorized by a sinister supernatural force after taking part in an obscure weight-loss craze: consuming human ashes. What begins as a desperate act of transformation spirals into a reckoning with body image, self-worth, and shame-driven compulsion — told through a queer lens and James’ signature brand of intimate, creeping dread.
Midori Francis (The Sex Lives of College Girls, Dash & Lily) leads the cast alongside Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You) and Madeleine Madden (The Wheel of Time). James wrote and directed the film in partnership with Carver Films, XYZ Films, Stan, Maslow Entertainment, Screen Australia, and Screen Victoria.
Saccharine premiered in the Midnight section of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival — drawing praise for its unsettling visual language and Francis’ fearless lead performance — and went on to screen at the Berlinale before IFC and Shudder acquired it for North American release.
Saccharine opens in select theaters on May 22, 2026. A Shudder streaming premiere will follow.
