![Natalie Erika James On ‘Saccharine,’ Turning An Eating Disorder Into A Ghost Story [Interview]](https://cdn.theplaylist.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/22073231/Saccharine-Still_2-H-2026.jpg "Natalie Erika James On ‘Saccharine,’ Turning An Eating Disorder Into A Ghost Story [Interview]")
The lengths to which one woman, Hana (Midori Francis), is willing to go to lose weight serve as the launchpad for director Natalie Erika James’ newest film, “Saccharine.” But from a 10,000-foot view, the film is also a story about compartmentalized desire, cultural inheritance, queer longing, body horror, and the kind of haunting that moves through a life before it ever takes supernatural shape.
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James, who previously explored grief and family in “Relic,” builds “Saccharine” around Hana’s gradual descent, surrounding her with an unsettling presence, glossy textures, medical-school unease, and a soundscape that makes every crunch, breath, and bodily sensation feel invasive.
The Playlist’s Brian Farvour spoke with James about the film’s queer angle, eating disorders, body horror, sound design, working with Francis, and the Slurpee scene that brought the crew to applause.
From the queer angle, how did you bring Hana’s journey, weight loss, the supernatural element, and body horror together?
It starts simply, and then it grows into a web from there. But I also wanted this idea that Hana has a lot of aspects of her life that are quite compartmentalized, and how much her eating disorder can permeate every aspect of that, whether it’s the schoolwork and that kind of perfectionism drive, or the way that she relates to herself in a kind of romantic context, and how much she closes herself off. And then, of course, the parents and that relationship, and how it relates to the more ancestral, cultural elements of that. So these are compartments of her life, and she’s the one driving that story, but Bertha is infiltrating every aspect of that.
Where did you start? What was the very initial germ of the idea that led to all of this?
I guess I always wanted to tell a story about, or explore, eating disorders on film, and that was always there. But I guess I was trying to think of when someone’s in the grips of an eating disorder, how it can often feel like there’s something external to you that’s taking control, or like a different part of your brain kicks in. Because, of course, one side of your brain is like, “This is how I want to operate. This is what I want to do.” And then there’s another side of you that, much like any addiction or compulsion, takes over, or it can feel that way. So I put it into almost a dark presence, or a dark passenger, in a way, and that felt particularly suited to a ghost story or a sense of someone being haunted by something.
There are those little lines, like when Hana is looking at cadavers and asks, “Do we know their names?” Then Bertha is mentioned. What kind of research went into that medical-school setting?
It was amazing, because I did a lot of research. I don’t have a medical background, of course, but we also went to a dissection hall at the University of Melbourne. They gave us a tour, and they let us fact-check everything. It was really incredible, just the amount of respect nowadays that’s shown to people who choose to donate their bodies to science, which often wasn’t always the case, and the ceremony at the end, where they invite all the families. I think it is so wonderful.
The sound design is so striking—every crunch, every food-eating noise feels turned up to 11. Did you work closely on that? Was the idea that sound would become its own character?
Even visually, and certainly aurally, we wanted this film to have a lot of texture and a lot of felt sense, like a bodily kind of texture. So in the visuals, too, even all the textures of her apartment, all of that is really high gloss, or an incredibly lumpy couch, all of those things. And so, with the soundscape, we also wanted to have that sense of something that you feel physiologically in your body as you’re hearing it as well. And one of those things was even taking a breath, for example, into the soundscape, so that you felt aligned with something visceral and very much focused on the body.
Midori Francis takes on both an emotional journey and a physical journey here. How closely did you two work together on her transformation?
It was intensely collaborative. We connected right away after she read the script. We connected on Zoom and spent a few months breaking down the script together. By the time she came to Australia for the shoot, there was already such a closeness there. We ended up breaking down her transformation into seven stages, with a mix of prosthetics and a bodysuit that gets smaller. But a lot of that transformation is in Midori’s physicality, and how she carries herself, and the kind of self-consciousness that she brings at the start of the film versus what’s happening at the end of the film.
And I have to say, I was blown away during our camera test: as soon as the camera started recording, she just snapped into character. It was pretty amazing, one of those moments where you get chills on set. So, yeah, such a credit to her because we had to shoot out of order, of course. And so we needed to use prosthetics, of course. But it was just a constant recalibration every day: “Okay, where are we in the journey?” And, yeah, she completely smashed it out of the park.
There’s a moment in the film where Hana seems to realize what might keep Bertha at bay. Without giving anything away, how did that idea come about?
I think it’s drawn from the sense that sometimes, like an eating disorder, it can feel like it’s your monster that follows you around. Some people even name their eating disorders, and it’s a really common feeling that people can have. And in a way, if it’s something external to you, then there’s this sense of having to please it, right? Like offering it things to get it to back down or get that food noise to kind of quiet down. That was my thinking with it.
There is a sense in which the menace is lying in wait and a little bit dormant to begin with, because things are developing for her. But then it’s not until she starts defying it that things get really violent and aggressive. And I feel like that’s how it can feel, that when you’re managing it, there’s a certain harmony or a kind of status quo that’s maintained. But as soon as you start trying to recover, or maybe you’re trying to act outside of your normal patterns, it can become really painful.
Is there a small detail in the film that you’re especially glad made it in?
The Potato Masher Challenge! It’s basically, can you fit your arm through a potato masher? And it was so funny to me how much people who had to deal with this element in the film were like, “Oh, I’ve never seen this.” I’ve been trying to look for it on TikTok, this challenge, and of course, it’s completely made up because it makes no sense. Potato mashers come in all sorts of sizes! But it’s the absurdity of all these trends that can take over the most ridiculous beauty norm, pushed to its furthest. So I’m happy that I made it in.
We obviously had a few TikTok videos to illustrate that, and Maya Mitchell did one that she came up with, and I love that she’s in there doing that. It’s just a genius moment.
As an adult, you kind of laugh at it and go, “Oh, wow, that’s ridiculous,” but I think it’s actually really harmful for teenagers. Certainly, when we were growing up, it was a different time, but now it’s kind of the same. It’s just a different form.
What was a fun day on set?
The scene where Hana drinks the Slurpee at the convenience store! That was a one-take wonder, and she’s really drinking a Slurpee for that amount of time. It was one of those moments where the crew just burst into spontaneous applause. It was in our first week as well. Midori said that she got brain freeze, or stomach freeze, or whatever. That was a pretty fun day, just running around the city.
How did you work to develop the relationship between Hana and her mom? Was that something that happened naturally, or was it lightning in a bottle?
I think there’s so much love in that relationship. And I think a lot of it is taking a step back from it. So much of it is about the tension coming from expectations, and maybe misread expectations as well. I think there’s a sense that Hana has. A lot of Hana’s issues are also about control and trying to control her sense of safety in the world. And this eating disorder that comes out of that is trying to carve back some of that control.
I think I see that in her and her mother’s relationship, whether she’s coming into her house to clean without her permission, or there’s this sense that her body is being assessed in some way, even from a distance. So I think that was the main conflict that I was thinking about in their relationship. I think the tragedy of it is that it’s so well-intentioned from all sides, that there is so much love and care there.
What’s something you didn’t expect to take away from the experience of making this?
I think, for me, of course, I sit so much closer to it, but I didn’t expect—because, as I mentioned, a lot of the essential conflict was stuff that had happened to me years ago—I didn’t expect it to be so immersive. And I hate to use the word triggering, but there were some scenes, particularly in the parents’ house, where I was overcome with emotion.
I’ve made personal work before, through “Relic,” so I know that feeling, but this was like a whole other level where, “Oh, I want to leave set.” It was funny to me in the darkest way, because it was like I created this jail of my own making. I hired every single person in this room, so that’s just my own unexpected kind of thing. But you make it through, and it’s all worth it. There are certainly moments on set where you’re like, “Oh, this is way too real.”
This interview has been edited for clarity. “Saccharine” opens in theaters May 22.
