Hana eventually runs into a friend, who similarly used to have weight problems, but introduces the Saccharine protagonist to a new diet pill that helped her lose a large amount of weight. When her analysis of the pill leads her to believe they're made of human ashes, Hana begins consuming those of one of the cadavers she and her classmates are operating on in school, only to subsequently become haunted by their spirit even as she loses the weight.
Alongside Francis, the Saccharine cast includes The Tourist's Danielle Macdonald as Hana's best friend Josie, The Wheel of Time's Madeleine Madden as Alanya, Longmire's Robert Taylor and Showko Showfukutei. Having made its world premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, the film has garnered generally positive reviews from critics, with praise directed towards James' direction, the body horror elements and commentary on body image and eating disorders.
In honor of the film's wide release, ScreenRant's Grant Hermanns interviewed Natalie Erika James, Midori Francis, Danielle Macdonald and Madeleine Madden to discuss Saccharine. When asked about the origins of the horror movie's story, and balancing its genre trappings with a sensitive look at its more timely elements, James shared that the film "has been brewing in my head for many decades," albeit denoting that she didn't start writing until being in post-production on her feature directorial debut, Relic.
The writer/director/producer went on to share that Saccharine has a lot of personal inspiration, explaining that "there are parallels to my own parents" in having "grown up with two people who had almost opposite approaches to their bodies," namely "how they coped with food." James subsequently utilized the script for "unpacking a lot of those mixed messages that I had growing up," eventually finding that the "perfect vehicle to explore that in a truthful way" resulted in it being a horror story with moments that were "inherently absurd":
Natalie Erika James: In terms of balancing the more out-there elements with the more emotionally-grounded ones, I think what I tried to do was, as much as possible, push the scenes in a way that we're still emotionally truthful, or still grounded in something that an actor could relate to in real life. Something like the candy bar scene, where you know the presence is pushing candy bars towards her, is such a reflection of food noise, and we tried as much as possible to lean into the absurdity, as well. I think the concept is kind of inherently absurd, but it's a testament to Midori that you still feel very emotionally grounded in that scene, because of her performance.
Turning the conversation towards Francis' efforts to authentically portray Hana, the Grey's Anatomy alum recalled the film's production being "quite immersive," namely in that she was "going to a new country for the first time" and "had just finished a job," leaving her with "no real tether to my life in America." Inspired by the "wonderful people" involved in Saccharine, the star "kind of went all in" with devoting to her character's physical and emotionally vulnerable journey "unlike any other."
In doing so, Francis found that her character's experience led her to start questioning, "Is this in her head?" during filming. She concluded by praising "the script that Nat wrote" and the world created for Saccharine as being "so much like a mirror looking at me" that she felt "very confronted" and "at all times with the world," even in its "peak insanity."
The Group Were All Keen To Let Saccharine's Queerness Be Organic & Normalized
ScreenRant: Well, at least you had a great friend in Josie here to help try and ground you amid some of that intensity. Danielle, I'd love to hear for you, and then Midori, if you'd like to chime in. I love that Josie's very body positive, really tries to encourage her friend, but at the same time, obviously there is that gap growing between them. What was it like finding that dynamic and that rapport with one another throughout filming?
Danielle Macdonald: I think it was kind of great. We started at the end, actually, a little bit, didn't we? That was our first scene, but it was kind of when we'd already made up towards the end, so we got to have a bit more fun with it. There's a lot more of the playful stuff that we filmed at the beginning, so we got to actually get to know each other, and find our dynamic. Midori and I, after a day of knowing each other, went on a wild trip out to like 7-Eleven and some interesting photo booth.
Midori Francis: A Korean photo booth place, where you walk in, you get the rental props. Yeah, it was intense. [Chuckles]
Danielle Macdonald: We had fun. [Chuckles] We got to know each other, and I think that that really set a good basis for our dynamic, and what we could play with on film. And I think that Josie loves and cares about Hana, and she does want the best for her, but I think that it's also difficult when someone's going through something that they actually have to go through and figure out themselves. You can be there as a support, and she is, at the end. You know, she's ready, but it is a difficult thing. Because you can't tell someone how to feel, or how to be, or how to accept themselves, it's just not how it works. We all have our own journey to go through, and this is Hana's. She's already been through her own, and she's just kind of support.
ScreenRant: Madeleine, I'd love to turn to you next, because I love that Alanya spent so much of this movie just being the object of Hannah's affection, so to speak, but then, as the film goes on, we get to learn more about her and see that she is more of a caring person, she isn't just the sort of stereotypical gym trainer. I'd love to hear what that was like working with Natalie here to really find those extra layers and really bring out that sense of care that we eventually get to see as the film goes on.
Madeleine Madden: Yeah, I think all of the characters come with their own experiences with self-image, and their own baggage, and they all represent different parts of communities that we're familiar with in society. Alanya is one of those fitness-wellness influencers that we all know very well, and I think it's really pulling back the curtain on how we look at those industries, and the impact that they have on us through our social media. I think when this obsession and desire sort of starts to creep in that Hana has for Alanya, that's when you know this pursuit of this dramatic weight loss, obviously, is more than just that. It's more than just a fascination with Alanya, but once she goes on this journey, I think she starts to project more of her self-image onto Alanya. But at the same time, as Alanya's concern and empathy is growing for her, it's this interesting parallel. The more Hana is feeling maybe valuable, or loved or lovable, the more she's actually sort of pushing these people away, and the more people are becoming more disturbed by this eating disorder, and this body dysmorphia that she's suffering with in silence.
ScreenRant: My next question, Natalie, I'll turn to you, and then Midori, I'd love to hear from you as well. As a bi person, I really love the way that this film really highlights queer relationships and friendships, and I'd love to hear what it was like for you both, as well as Danielle and Madeleine, really getting to do that and do that in an authentic way with these characters.
Natalie Erika James: Yeah, I think it's interesting, in preparing for some of the press, I've been thinking back on the formative films that I enjoyed growing up. One of them that came up was My Summer of Love, and the parallels now that I see. I think I saw that film when I was, like, 14, and it had such an impact on me, but in terms of that central relationship and the projection of fantasy and desire onto someone who, particularly someone of the same sex, they're like a mirror in a way. There's that line from Josie about whether she wants to be with her or be her. There's a kind of gray area there, so I think for me, the queerness was always kind of central to it, because of that component of who you project your desire and fantasy onto, and who you think can help you become a certain version of yourself. I felt like that was really central to what Hana is experiencing.
Midori Francis: Yeah, we had discussed this previously, and I think all of us actors had said something similar. Not to negate the importance of the queerness in the film, because it wouldn't be the same movie without it, but I loved that these were three female characters — by the way, to answer your other question of all of us, how we interacted and everything, there was so much love between all of us. And this is hard subject matter, so I will say we could have done it if that wasn't there, but to be working alongside such grounded, compassionate, smart women made this experience so much easier than it would have been to all of these people. But yeah, my favorite part was that there were three characters — Josie, Alanya, and Hana — and they were all very different, and they all served very different purposes in this film, and they all happened to be queer. It wasn't a huge deal, I loved that. There was a status quo of queerness percolating in the film, but it wasn't addressed, it wasn't an issue. Hana dealt with a lot of things with her parents, but I liked that we didn't have to deal with them not accepting her queerness. It was kind of a relief. I liked stepping into a world where it was just so normal. There were a lot of things happening, and there were a lot of weird things happening, but the queerness really was low on that list. As a queer actor, I loved that. I just liked that it was kind of the status quo. It felt more natural and real to my real life.
ScreenRant: Now, we talked about the weirdness of this film, and Natalie, I did want to ask about the creation of Big Bertha as a visual, because that is a haunting one that I am never going to forget. I'd love to hear what it was like working with that actor and with the special effects team to really create that character.
Natalie Erika James: Yeah, it was actually two actors. So, because Bertha really grows as Hana gets smaller in that picture of Dorian Gray kind of way, or the logic of that, at least. The prosthetics team had a huge task of having to do four stages, so we decided, "Yeah, two actors could be the best approach for that." And as the film progresses, she does become more monstrous, but not because of her size. It's more to do with Hana's projection onto Bertha. So, in terms of design, she starts off in a much more kind of human state, who Bertha is is really Grace, right? There's a kind of humanization of her towards the end of the film, in which you get to see that she is loved, and a person who is valued, and all of those things. Hana truly understands that, but in her own projected haunting, Bertha becomes more degraded, deteriorated, less human in a way. So, the design process of that was, yeah, really incredible. We tried to mirror that kind of feeling.
Saccharine is now in theaters!
Release Date
May 22, 2026
Runtime
112 minutes
Director
Natalie Erika James
Writers
Natalie Erika James
Producers
Anna McLeish, Sarah Shaw, Natalie Erika James
Courtesy of Narelle Portanier
English (US) ·