‘Saccharine’ Star Midori Francis on the Grueling Physical Demands of Playing an Eating Disorder on Screen

Midori Francis knew from the moment she read the script for “Saccharine” that she had to do it, even if it meant enduring brain freeze from chugging an entire slushy on camera.

The horror film, which premiered as part of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival’s Midnight section, follows Hana (Francis), a medical student who becomes terrorized by a hungry ghost after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze. Writer-director Natalie Erika James’ follow-up to “Relic” tackles addiction and eating disorders through a supernatural lens, and Francis fully committed to the physical demands of the role.

“I’m thrilled to hear that it was difficult to watch. That’s the point,” Francis told TheWrap reporter Casey Loving at Sundance. “It should be uncomfortable when you’re in that kind of disordered eating behavior. It should be hard to look at.”

In his review of the film, TheWrap’s Chase Hutchinson wrote: “‘Saccharine,’ the latest film from ‘Relic’ director Natalie Erika James, is a deceptively brutal and unsparing experience. It’s a gruesome, tragic film about a woman who, in an attempt to quickly lose weight, begins consuming human ashes and discovers that a ghost is slowly beginning to haunt her. For every pound she sheds, she gains another pound of spiritual nightmares.”

Francis was adamant from the start that she would actually eat on camera rather than fake it. “We all know what the Hollywood eating is in TV and film when you’re not even really swallowing a piece of lettuce, and we all can see it when it’s happening and you’re pushing the food around,” she said. “There was just no way that was going to work with this movie. There’s just no way.”

James and Francis worked together on set to determine how many real takes were necessary. “We would check in with each other and be like, how many more do you have?” Francis said. “We always at least had, at the minimum, one take where it was truly being consumed, because it’s important to see it right, and you can’t really do that with a double.”

The most challenging scene involved a slushy machine. “We tried to make it warmer, but it just lost its consistency. So it just has to be cold,” Francis said. “It was like a medium sized slushy that was just freezing. It was like a sugar rush, and then also like brain freeze in my stomach.”

James treated the eating sequences like action scenes. “We definitely treated them like stunts,” she said. “It’s a physical strain on you to consume that much in a short amount of time. It physiologically does things. It was really important that we nailed it in the shortest amount of time possible.”

For Francis, the personal connection made the physical demands worth it. “Addiction, eating disorders, are very personal to me, very personal to my family,” she said. “The writing of this script was so brilliant and so true to at least my experience, to what I know is to be true when you’re in that state of compulsion and addiction.”

Saccharine is set to release in theaters in 2026 courtesy of Shudder.

Catch up on all of our Sundance coverage here.

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