Sundance Film Festival 2026 – Saccharine, the new film from Australian writer-director Natalie Erika James is a well-crafted mess of a film. As the movie begins we meet Hana (Midori Francis), an introverted medical student with a fondness for food. She’s what most would call “fat” and she struggles not just with self control, but a horrible self image. In a chance meeting, with old high school friend Melissa (Annie Shapero), Hana is offered one pill that will solve her weight issues, but there is a disgusting catch. Filmmaker James delivers a gross-out body horror flick that is effectively disgusting, yet weighed down in ponderous, often meandering storytelling.
To be honest, Hana seems to have a great life. She’s working hard in school, she has a supportive bestie in Josie (Danielle Macdonald), and people like her. Still, she isn’t happy with herself, more importantly, her size. At the gym, she longingly eyes the beautiful trainer Alanya (Madeleine Madden) and quickly demurs with caught staring. But at the bar, old friend Melissa spots Hana and, conveniently explains that she has been taking these new pills to lose weight. Impulsively, Hana gobbles one down when offered a sample and the next morning there is a noticeable change on the scales. Hana, being the medical student that she is, analyzes the ingredients of this wonder pill only to find that it is nothing but cremated human remains.
Rather than pay the absurd price that her old friend is forking out for weight loss, the resourceful Hana decides to begin harvesting parts her current group project at school, a corpulent cadaver that she and her schoolmates have dubbed Big Bertha. With gleefully disgusting closeups we watch as Hana dissects her school project only to fish parts out of the trash later and create her own magical diet pills. Soon enough, the weight is melting off of Hana, the trainer at the gym begins to notice her, and love is in the air.
Then the ghost sightings start. At first Hana only sees fleeting reflections of the very cadaver she is working on and ingesting. Then the paranormal encounters become more real. Ads Hana continues to lose weight her dead benefactor becomes more and more menacing. Can Hana stop taking the pills and end the hauntings? Will Hana risk the loss of romance for actual peace?
I need to call out Francis who delivers a grounded, relatable character in Hana. Her face broadcasts inner sadness, despite the positivity around her. We understand why she would do something unthinkable to attain her goal. Not to mention those eating scenes. Macdonald handles the audience point of view admirably as the BFF walking her friend through a crisis. The real star here is the nauseating onslaught of autopsy close-ups and practical effects. The story is compelling but the visuals knock it out of the park.
I still find Natalie Erika James to be a notable and talented filmmaker. With her debut feature, Relic, she established her ability to explore generational horrors. That was an indulgent, slow film but an effective one. With Saccharine the family aspects feel forced and unnecessary. We don’t need to know the details of Hana’s paternal trauma with obesity. We don’t need to know how her overprotective mother is suffering. We need to know what Hana wants, what she is willing to sacrifice, and whether or not she should.
Saccharine is a gross out arthouse flick that gets the gore right while going off the rails with narrative.
