SACCHARINE: Independent Film Company And Shudder Acquire Sundance-Bound Body Horror

INDEPENDENT FILM COMPANY AND SHUDDER ACQUIRE NATALIE ERIKA JAMES’ SUPERNATURAL BODY HORROR “SACCHARINE” FROM XYZ FILMS AHEAD OF SUNDANCE PREMIERE

 

Independent Film Company and Shudder announced today that they have acquired Natalie Erika James’ supernatural body horror SACCHARINE from XYZ Films ahead of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. 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”.

 

SACCHARINE is a Carver Films and Thrum Films Production, financed by Screen Australia in conjunction with XYZ Films, IPR.VC, and Stan, in association with VicScreen. The film is produced by James, Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw (producers of RUN RABBIT RUN, RELIC, SNOWTOWN). The deal was negotiated by Emily Gotto for Shudder with XYZ Films on behalf of the filmmakers.