by Alex Billington
April 22, 2026
Source: YouTube
“Whatever shortcut you think you’ve found, it is a bad path.” IFC unveiled the official trailer for an indie horror film titled Saccharine, which first premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year in their Midnight section. It’s the third feature made by filmmaker Natalie Erika James following her other two horror flicks Relic and Apartment 7A before. Midori Francis stars as Hana, a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes. Hana quickly finds herself being haunted by a freaky ghost that grows in size and strength as her waistline slims. Also with Madeleine Madden, Danielle Macdonald, Robert Taylor, Showko Showfukutei. Early reviews are mixed to negative so far, with some calling it “repetitive and frustrating”; and others state that it’s “effectively disgusting, yet weighed down in ponderous, often meandering storytelling.” Well hmm.
Here’s the official trailer (+ poster) for Natalie Erika James’ horror film Saccharine, direct from YouTube:
Hana (Midori Francis), a lovelorn medical student, becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes. Filmmaker Natalie Erika James’ third feature offers a modern and timely take on toxic messaging around weight and appearance that permeates every corner of our culture. With her latest film Saccharine, James takes an intimate look into one woman’s struggle with body image, self-worth, and shame-driven compulsion, told through a supernatural body-horror with a queer lens. Saccharine is written & directed by Australian-American genre filmmaker Natalie Erika James, director of the films Relic and Apartment 7A previously, plus a few shorts. Produced by Natalie Erika James, Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw. This first premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year in the Midnight section and it also played at Berlinale. IFC debuts James’ Saccharine film in select US theaters starting May 22nd, 2026 – and on Shudder streaming in July this summer. Who’s intrigued?
