Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: SACCHARINE [Berlinale - Berlin, Germany]

The notion of perspective and perception enters into the idea of Saccharine" [Berlinale Special Midnight] which uses the conceptuality of weight loss as a guide to possession in certain ways. Midori Francis stars as Hana, a girl just slightly overweight that looks at certain people around her (and social media) and just wants the quick fix. Nothing else she tries from diet to exercise seems to help too much. She is pre-med so she is coming into doing autopsies and dissecting cadavers for her training. One of her former friends tells her about a gray pill which made her lose weight despite anything she eats. While Hana is skeptical, she tries it while she also signs up for a class that a girl she likes is doing for a different scientific study. What is interesting is an image in the beginning of the film which doesn't quite pan out despite her want to find a balance. Another one by comparison does but it metaphorical meaning is a bit more elusive. In breaking down the pill she discovers its key which just happens to coincide with her access to a recently dead cadaver donor. The path begins where she can't turn back (or she tries to and it might be too late). There is also a texture of weight problems and shame in her family which is an intriguing psychological frame that is only brought to bear in one specific scene (which does have a correlation to "The Whale"). As Hana goes deeper into her path of gluttony while dropping weight, the supernatural context of what she is breeding starts to make sense.

It is a bit obvious in its connotation and use but the meaning of it is clear. However the motivation behind the darkness is less concrete. Its real world effect actually is well paralleled as the impact is both psychological and practical for Hana as the movie moves forward. One specific scene when Hana is in her room and how it physically manifests the creature is terrifying but also her ability to stave it off with certain actions beguile an eventual resolution. The climax is an interesting melding of imagery bathed in trash and perception of oneself with almost little homages to the Baron in "Dune" and Aphex Twin. Danielle Macdonald plays Hana's slightly heavier friend who doesn't believe what is happening until she starts to see it. The descent for Hana beyond her own subconscious takes on more specific connotations because of an inherent image on the wall that keeps repeating. There is a disconnect though on what makes Hana different from anyone else and subsequently pushes the intent of her character beyond the breach. The film could easily have ended in a specific way but it pushes it one more step that expands its macabre premise but necessarily focusing on the real concept of consumption at its core. "Saccharine" definitely knows what it is doing trying to deconstruct the mythos of weight loss and the look of perfection but it becomes an individual thing that doesn't work for all people and can do more harm than good. Hana as a character is logical in her perception but her perspective skews that even in trying to do good and try to be a good person, things turn bad. "Saccharine" like its namesake suggests sometimes has too much material but it effectively shows the idea is trying to portray. B

By Tim Wassberg