Following “Apartment 7A” and her breakout horror hit “Relic“, writer and director Natalie Erika James presents at the 76th Berlinale for a Special Midnight screening, her new film “Saccharine“, after a successful premere at the Sundance Film Festival, back in January.

The film follows Hana (Midori Francis) , a lovelorn medical student who becomes terrorized by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight-loss craze.

“Saccharine is the culmination of my own personal reflections, explored through the lens of horror. It is an intimate look at one woman’s struggle with body image, self-worth, and shame-driven compulsion”. These are the words of Natalie Erika James, explaining, in her director’s notes, the themes guiding her third feature film.

The film comes from James’ personal experience in her family as her father, while she was growing up, struggled with food and weight shaped much of her family’s life.

She used this experience and her ability to transform it into cinema blending body horror and psychological thriller, two genres that are much more nuanced and effective in showing, understanding, exploring these struggles.

By utilizing supernatural and body horror elements, the film portrays the haunting nature of internal battles related to body perception and mental health. The genre-savvy approach amplifies the emotional truth behind the characters’ experiences, making the story both impactful and entertaining.

At its core, “Saccharine” tells the story of a woman striving for love and acceptance in a world that often conditions conditional regard. The film highlights how a weight-loss journey, if not supported and guided in a way that safeguards mental health, does not guarantee self-acceptance; on the contrary, it can even worsen one’s self-perception.

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