Saccharine is the third feature from Writer/Director Natalie Erika James, following her pandemic-era breakthrough Relic and 2024’s Rosemary’s Baby prequel, Apartment 7A.  The film follows Hana (Midori Francis), a medical student suffering from body dysmorphia who experiments with a new weight-loss pill that promises to slim her down in next to no time. With GLP-1 medications now commonplace in our society, this may feel like a familiar and timely premise. But of course, there’s more to it, as Hana finds that what seems like a simple solution to her struggles may come tied to sinister consequences.

It’s difficult to watch this film and not be superficially reminded of 2024’s Oscar-nominated hit The Substance. The parallels in setup are obvious—a woman struggling with her self-image (due in some part to unrealistic societal expectations) encounters a seemingly groundbreaking new medication that, while shrouded in mystery, offers the change she needs to finally accept herself. What the former film has that this one doesn’t is a true sense of self conveyed through a compelling style and engaging storytelling.

The film looks like any mid-budget horror flick that you may or may not have seen in theaters and promptly forgot about. There’s just not much visual intrigue there, and that stems from a lack of risk-taking. For a film leaning into body-horror to work effectively, there needs to be that standout scene that burns an image onto your brain, but it doesn’t show up here. There are occasions where it seems like Saccharine may go there, but the film never fully commits to them. Those scenes feel almost clinical in nature, as opposed to playing into the supernatural themes the film wants to engage in. Some of that may have been influenced by the spaces Hana occupies as a medical student, but it left me at times wondering whether I was watching a supernatural body-horror film or the latest episode of The Pitt. Additionally, there’s some pretty egregious makeup work serving to make characters appear heavier than they are that verges on distasteful.

While there are a number of minor supporting characters in the film that deliver serviceable, if forgettable, performances, this is essentially a one-woman show for Hana, played by Daytime Emmy nominated actress Midori Francis, best known for her work in the Netflix series Dash & Lily. Francis does the best she can with what she’s given. Her struggles with self-image feel believable and I imagine will ring true for a large portion of the audience. There’s the potential for overacting and melodrama in a role like this, and Francis never goes there.  It’s not a performance distinct or memorable enough to stand out amidst a busy year for the horror genre, but it’s one that enhances the film it’s embedded within.

Saccharine’s biggest fault is James’ script, which feels overly long and, for the most part, devoid of characterization. For much of the film’s runtime, Hana seems like any person you know who doesn’t love themself. It’s not until we are finally introduced to her father (played by Australian actor Robert Taylor) that there’s a sliver of an attempt to help us understand her. Unfortunately, that attempt feels shoehorned in and falls flat. It’s as though James realized partway through writing that her main character didn’t have a backstory, and she slapped a band-aid on that by throwing in a haphazard scene that feels disconnected from the rest of the film. The story issues really flare up in the third act, when any sense of how the mechanics of what Hana is experiencing succumb to an onslaught of undefinable supernatural slop.

Relic was a nice surprise standout from James back in 2020 when audiences were desperate for new stories they could engage in at home in the absence of the theatrical experience. Her latest entries haven’t lived up to that high, but I have hope that she can make a return in future work to what put her on the map.

IFC and Shudder will release Saccharine in theaters on May 22.

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