Slanted is an emotionally ambitious film that blends body horror and teen dramedy together to great results. Directed and written by Amy Wang, Slanted is very much rooted in the feeling of being “othered” for one’s ethnicity. That realistic throughline is complicated by the film’s introduction of a surgery that can make you like everyone else — i.e. white.
It’s a powerful metaphor for the underlying self-loathing that can come with being a teenager, filtered through body horror and social satire that feels close to the darkly comedic flourishes of The Substance and Get Out. Creepy when it needs to be but unrelentingly human, Slanted is a great showcase for how horror, satire, and teen dramedy can come together.
Slanted Is Campy, Horrifying, And Heartbreaking
Slanted is an ambitious fusion of body horror and teen dramedy, with an emotionally powerful throughline that adds a lot of layers to a racially charged high school-set take on themes explored in movies like Get Out or The Substance. Slanted focuses on Joan Huang, the teenage daughter of Chinese immigrants to America.
Jealous of the popular blonde white girls in her class, Joan’s frustrations with being “othered” by her classmates leads her to get surgery that gives her a Caucasian appearance and convinces her to go by the name of “Jo.” Played by Shirley Chen in her natural state and Mckenna Grace after her transformation, Joan/Jo is an easily relatable character.
The arc of Joan/Jo is an emotionally bruising narrative. That human element to Joan/Jo is crucial to the film, as it otherwise indulges in some purposefully campy satire and unsettling body horror. Similar to movies like The Substance, the interplay of gruesome transformations and picture-perfect beauty serves as the core emotional undercurrent of the narrative.
While the body horror never goes as far or as gruesomely as The Substance does, there’s shared creative DNA between both films and how they portray the vapid outer layers of beauty and the struggle that comes with internalized self-loathing brought on by societal expectations.
The other layer of Slanted is the unsettling humor that surrounds the surgery. People of all races are shown getting it, framing it as a chance to “join” white people rather than fix a flawed system. It’s a grim throughline that pays off with absurdist comedy and creepy imagery, like billboards of a white family calling others to “join” them.
Fans Of Horror And Teen Dramedy Alike Will Love Slanted
Slanted is doing a lot, meaning it doesn’t feel quite as focused (and effective) as The Substance or Get Out. However, that very authentic teenage experience is what makes the film so compelling. While the body horror and the cultural satire are both good, it’s the emotional beats that Joan experiences that elevate the film into something special.
Chen and Grace both bring a real sense of pain to the character, making Joan/Jo someone who has to struggle to push down her empathy in the name of popularity and acceptance. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Amelie Zilber make for great contrasts, Joan’s best friend and Jo’s new peer, respectively, ensuring the thematic questions about race and identity feel real.
Joan’s frustrations with her immigrant parents follow plenty of established tropes and archetypes, but still land with some real emotional heft thanks to the strong performances and solid script. It’s a tricky balancing act, but one that Slanted succeeds with thanks to the power of the premise and the effectiveness of the execution.
By the end of the film, Slanted has proven itself to be a surprisingly emotional body horror film, which uses the latter’s visual elements to explore a story about self-loathing and cultural identity. It’s funny, harrowing, and heartbreaking in a way great genre fusions can. Even if you can’t normally stomach body horror, Slanted is worth checking out.
