SACCHARINE Review

Weight loss culture is a big thing these days.

I feel like that's a permanent truism, really. When has weight loss NOT been one of the pre-eminent things on Americans' minds? It's a constant top New Year's Resolution every single winter, and celebrity culture has made thin "in" for ages now.

But in the back half of the 2020's, it only seems to be rising in prominence. It's easier to achieve than ever, what with appetite suppressant injectables flooding the market and being incredibly easy to ascertain. Everyone at least knows someone who is taking these medications... if they aren't on them themselves.

The super skinny style--the "heroin chic" look, it has been referred to as--seems to be coming back, too, as our celebrities are whittling themselves down to virtually nothing just like they did in the 1990's and the 2000's. Even as we enter a culturally more progressive era where all body types are more accepted than ever, Hollywood is redefining the size 0. Stars who built their brand on being big--think Meghan Trainor--are now minuscule compared to what they were before. And those that were already small, like Ariana Grande? Well, they are practically disappearing before our eyes.

This is all to say that I am writing this article while I eat an entire bag of candy that purports to have four servings. Oops!

The thing is, with GLP-1 medications being en vogue and stardom telling us we need to get smaller and smaller again, where is the line on what we would do to lose weight?

That's the key to today's movie, another new offering from everyone's favorite streaming service (or maybe just mine), Shudder. It is called Saccharine, and it tells the story of protagonist Hana and her lifelong quest to shed the excess pounds and live what she feels would be a more fulfilled life.

Early in the picture, Hana meets up with a high school friend who has apparently lost a lot of weight in her life's journey. When Hana asks how that is possible, Melissa gives all the credit to Gray--a weight loss pill she started taking recently. Hana takes one of her pills and instantly feels its effects; she can eat whatever she wants, but the pounds start dropping off after just one dose.

Boy I am... I am just now realizing that this movie is the diet equivalent of Limitless.

Anyway! Hana wants more, but Melissa reports the pills have an exorbitant cost. Desperate, med student Hana takes a second pill to her lab and runs tests to find out from what it is made. The results shock her (and us!): Gray is nothing more than the ash of human remains!

But still, our heroine thinks about the life she could have as a skinnier woman. Is it worth doing the unthinkable to achieve that goal?

TWO UPS AND TWO DOWNS

+ Midori Francis is exceptional as the star of the picture, Hana. She is very talented and carries the movie wonderfully. We definitely buy her struggle with being the person she is convinced she needs to be, and she is both sympathetic as a protagonist but also kind of a bitch, too. She's well-rounded and relatable in that way!

Hana goes through a lot of transformation over the course of Saccharine, and it's not just a physical one. She goes from affable if depressed to confident to desperate. Francis makes each gradual shift in Hana's personality believable, and she dedicates herself fully to it. She's up there in the annals of great Shudder stars that I'm eager to see again in some future projects.

I need to call up Shudder and demand they do a movie with a Shudder all-star cast from some of their best movies! Midori Francis, Sissy's Aisha Dee, Millicent Saylor from A Spoonful Of Sugar. Someone book it!

+ This seemed an original take on a basic haunting story, and I was fully invested throughout. I was never bored and disinterested in what I was watching. Natalie Erika James is both the writer and the director of this one, and she crafted a movie that is fully engaging. Even with somewhat of an extravagant runtime, Saccharine is exciting and gripping from beginning to end.

- The subplot with Hana's father is short-lived and doesn't amount to much at all when it's all said and done. In a movie exceeding 110 minutes, that's a problem. I would have preferred this detail was cut from the film to save some time. What's worse, the movie hides dad until later on, but it litters the bits we get with clues, so when we finally see him, there is no great surprise. In a strong screenplay, this was easily the weakest point for me.

- We get that Hana very much wants to lose weight, but I don't know that I ever bought that she was desperate enough to go through the process she goes through to make the Gray pills. It's pretty extreme! Maybe if we cut the dad material we could have gotten a few more moments of Hana before she meets back up with Melissa; moments where we see her weight more negatively impacting her life. Just to build up the belief that she would even be open to the Gray even after finding out what it is.

OVERALL

I tend to be overly critical of Shudder movies because a lot of independent horror can be very samey and repetitive, and I am harsh on the things that I love as a person. But when the streamer hits, it hits hard, and I thought Saccharine was another wonderful addition to their line-up. It's a little bit haunting, a little bit body horror, and a little bit stand-out central performance. Definitely worth your time!

🍿 SCORE = 70 / 100