Midori Francis
Hana
Overview
After succumbing to an obscure weight-loss craze involving the eating of human ashes, lovelorn medical student Hana finds herself haunted by the ghost of the person she's eating.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min read AI-generated editorial review
The Hunger That Eats You Alive
I’ve seen this trick before—the one where horror dresses up as a fad, where the thing that’s supposed to fix you ends up consuming you instead. But Natalie Erika James’ Saccharine doesn’t just repeat the formula. It takes the most intimate kind of hunger—the kind that gnaws at your ribs when you’re alone in the bathroom at 2 a.m., scrolling through photos of an ex, or staring at your reflection like it’s betrayed you—and turns it into something you can taste. Literally.
The premise is grotesque in the best way: Hana (Midori Francis), a medical student drowning in heartbreak, stumbles upon a viral weight-loss trend that involves eating human ashes. (Yes, you read that right. No, I don’t know what’s in the water in Australia, but between this and Relic, Natalie Erika James is clearly mining something rich and rotten in the cultural subconscious.) The film’s tagline—What’s eating you?—isn’t just a pun. It’s the entire thesis. Because what starts as a desperate bid for control, for transformation, for the kind of reinvention that only exists in before-and-after photos, quickly curdles into something far more sinister. The ghost of the person whose ashes Hana consumes doesn’t just haunt her. It digests her, from the inside out.
James has always had a knack for making the domestic uncanny. In Relic, she turned a grandmother’s dementia into a physical manifestation of decay, a house that folded in on itself like a dying body. Saccharine feels like its spiritual cousin, but where Relic was about the horror of watching someone you love disappear, this is about the horror of wanting to disappear. Hana isn’t just grieving a relationship. She’s grieving the version of herself that existed before it ended—the one who believed in love, in futures, in the idea that she was enough. The ashes she consumes are a stand-in for all the things we swallow to keep going: the lies, the self-loathing, the quiet hope that if we just change this one thing about ourselves, everything else will fall into place.
And that’s where the film’s real terror lies. Not in jump scares or gore (though I’m sure there’s plenty of both), but in the way it weaponizes shame. Shame is the most intimate horror of all, the kind that doesn’t just live in the dark corners of your mind but in the way you hold your shoulders, the way you avoid mirrors, the way you lie to your friends when they ask how you’re doing. James understands this. She understands that the most frightening monsters aren’t the ones that lurk under the bed, but the ones we invite in, the ones we pay to stay.
I’ve seen this trick before—the one where horror dresses up as a fad, where the thing that’s supposed to fix you ends up consuming you instead. But Natalie Erika James’ Saccharine doesn’t just repeat the formula. It takes the most intimate kind of hunger—the kind that gnaws at your ribs when you’re alone in the bathroom at 2 a.m., scrolling through photos of an ex, or staring at your reflection like it’s betrayed you—and turns it into something you can taste. Literally.
The premise is grotesque in the best way: Hana (Midori Francis), a medical student drowning in heartbreak, stumbles upon a viral weight-loss trend that involves eating human ashes. (Yes, you read that right. No, I don’t know what’s in the water in Australia, but between this and Relic, Natalie Erika James is clearly mining something rich and rotten in the cultural subconscious.) The film’s tagline—What’s eating you?—isn’t just a pun. It’s the entire thesis. Because what starts as a desperate bid for control, for transformation, for the kind of reinvention that only exists in before-and-after photos, quickly curdles into something far more sinister. The ghost of the person whose ashes Hana consumes doesn’t just haunt her. It digests her, from the inside out.
James has always had a knack for making the domestic uncanny. In Relic, she turned a grandmother’s dementia into a physical manifestation of decay, a house that folded in on itself like a dying body. Saccharine feels like its spiritual cousin, but where Relic was about the horror of watching someone you love disappear, this is about the horror of wanting to disappear. Hana isn’t just grieving a relationship. She’s grieving the version of herself that existed before it ended—the one who believed in love, in futures, in the idea that she was enough. The ashes she consumes are a stand-in for all the things we swallow to keep going: the lies, the self-loathing, the quiet hope that if we just change this one thing about ourselves, everything else will fall into place.
And that’s where the film’s real terror lies. Not in jump scares or gore (though I’m sure there’s plenty of both), but in the way it weaponizes shame. Shame is the most intimate horror of all, the kind that doesn’t just live in the dark corners of your mind but in the way you hold your shoulders, the way you avoid mirrors, the way you lie to your friends when they ask how you’re doing. James understands this. She understands that the most frightening monsters aren’t the ones that lurk under the bed, but the ones we invite in, the ones we pay to stay.
Full Plot (Spoilers)
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Buzz & Rumors
Public reports AI-researched entertainment notes
Natalie Erika James’ Saccharine Serves Up Body Horror with a Side of Shame
Natalie Erika James, the Australian filmmaker behind the critically acclaimed Relic (2020), is back with Saccharine, a 2026 supernatural horror film that blends body horror with psychological unease. Starring Midori Francis (Dash & Lily, Grey’s Anatomy) and Danielle Macdonald (Dumplin’, The Tourist), the movie promises to explore themes of obsession, grief, and the grotesque—all wrapped in a premise that’s as unsettling as it is timely.
A Darkly Sweet Premise
Saccharine follows Hana (Francis), a lovelorn medical student whose life takes a nightmarish turn after she participates in an obscure weight-loss trend: consuming human ashes 
. The film’s logline alone is enough to raise eyebrows, but James and her cast insist the story digs deeper than mere shock value. In interviews, the director and Francis have framed Saccharine as a meditation on shame, particularly the kind that festers in the wake of heartbreak and societal pressures 
.
The film’s title, while evocative, isn’t just a play on sweetness and decay—it’s a deliberate nod to the way trauma can leave a saccharine aftertaste, masking bitterness with false comfort. James, known for her ability to weave personal horror into universal fears (Relic explored dementia through a haunting family dynamic), appears to be doubling down on that approach here.
Behind the Scenes: A Cast on the Edge
The ensemble cast brings a mix of rising stars and seasoned performers. Francis, who leads the film, has spoken about the physical and emotional demands of the role, though specifics remain scarce [4]. Macdonald, Madden (The Wheel of Time), and Robert Taylor (The Matrix) round out the supporting cast, each likely bringing their own flavor of dread to the story.
One intriguing detail? The film’s release date—May 22, 2026—was announced alongside a roundtable interview where the cast and James discussed how horror can be a "perfect genre to address the things we don’t talk about" [3]. While the snippet doesn’t elaborate, it’s easy to speculate that Saccharine might tackle topics like body dysmorphia, self-punishment, or the extremes people go to in the name of love (or vanity).
Accidentally Timely?
James and Francis have hinted that Saccharine’s themes resonate with contemporary anxieties, though they’ve stopped short of calling it a direct allegory [4]. The idea of a fad diet spiraling into supernatural horror feels ripped from the headlines—think viral wellness trends, influencer culture, or the lengths people go to for validation. Whether the film leans into satire or sticks to straight-up terror remains to be seen, but the premise alone is enough to spark conversation.
What We Still Don’t Know
For all the buzz, details about Saccharine are frustratingly thin. There’s no word on the film’s budget, shooting locations, or whether it leans more into practical effects or CGI for its body horror elements. The Wikipedia entry confirms it’s an Australian production, but beyond that, the creative process is a mystery . Rumors of a festival premiere have yet to be confirmed, and with the release still over a year away, expect more tidbits to trickle out as marketing ramps up.
One thing’s certain: if Saccharine delivers even half the chills of Relic, it’ll be a must-watch for horror fans hungry for something fresh—and deeply unsettling.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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