Ahead of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Natalie Erika James’ supernatural body horror Saccharine from XYZ Films has been acquired by Independent Film Company and Shudder.
The film stars Midori Francis (Grey’s Anatomy, The Sex Lives of College Girls), Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$), and Madeleine Madden (The Wheel of Time).
Saccharine, written and directed by James, marks her third feature following her acclaimed psychological horror debut, Relic, which was distributed by IFC Midnight, and Apartment 7A, the prequel to Rosemary’s Baby starring Julia Garner. The deal includes rights in North America and the UK. Saccharine will have a theatrical release ahead of its Shudder debut in 2026.
Saccharine follows Hana (Francis), a lovelorn medical student who becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight-loss craze: eating human ashes.
Said director Natalie Erika James, “I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Independent Film Company and Shudder again after our experience releasing Relic together in 2020. They’re an incredible team with a deep understanding of genre and a real commitment to filmmakers.”
“Natalie announced herself as a singular force with her haunting debut Relic, a film that we were privileged to bring to audiences in 2020 via IFC Midnight,” said Emily Gotto, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Productions at Shudder. “With Saccharine, she returns with a chilling, utterly original vision that pierces our deepest obsessions with body image, reaffirming her work as a leading voice in genre cinema”.
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