Eating disorders have been around a long time, but they’re currently occupying a weirdly prominent place in mainstream culture. The AI-tweaked realms of social media push ideals that are increasingly unattainable—even if they feel within reach, thanks to new weight-loss drugs whose side effects are only starting to come into focus. “Ozempic face” isn’t part of the conversation in Saccharine, the latest horror film from Australian writer-director Natalie Erika James (Relic, Apartment 7A). But the unhealthy pursuit of thinness very much is, with supernatural terror slathered on top. The first images we see in Saccharine are of food being gobbled in extreme close-up—played in reverse, blending the acts of binging and purging with unsettling ease—and of a very in-shape woman exercising. She’s being ogled by another gymgoer who quickly looks away, and we soon realize this is who we just saw stuffing her face: Hana (Midori Francis).
Back in her apartment, Hana’s next actions may look painfully familiar to anyone who’s been in the trenches of disordered eating. First, she dumps a half-eaten box of donuts in the trash, squirting what looks like hot sauce on them to make them even less tempting. Then she flips to a fresh page in her diet journal. This is the cycle: overeat, feel regret, vow to regain control, vow that this is the very last time… and begin again.
