‘Slanted’ Is A Waste Of A Good Concept
The constant struggle between the desire to fit in and be accepted and the desire to be true to yourself is a strong foundation to base a body-horror satire on. Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance tackled the issues of body image, the entertainment industry’s treatment of women, and the insecurities that come with aging. It succeeded and gained critical acclaim. Amy Wang’s Slanted aims to utilize a similar concept to explore the perspective of Asian Americans who struggle to fit in and are victims of racism. It can best be described as a combination of The Substance and Mark Waters’ Mean Girls (and coincidentally, the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day), but without the energy and wit that allowed the two to work.
Written and directed by Amy Wang, Slanted is a body horror-comedy film that debuted at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on Saturday, March 8, 2025, and was released in the United States on Friday, March 13, 2026. It follows Joan Huang, played by Shirley Chen, a Chinese American student who, driven by both her insecurities and desire to be Prom Queen and thus achieve acceptance, decides to undergo ethnic modification surgery, which changes her race and ethnicity. Under her new alias, Jo Hunt, now played by Mckenna Grace, Joan tries to become Prom Queen and friends with the popular girls whilst also alienating her friends and family.
The comparisons to Mean Girls and The Substance really make themselves, but what this film unfortunately lacks in comparison to those is the energy, the tone, and the runtime to truly let the commentary and body horror shine. Slanted starts off exploring the life of Joan Huang, laying out her day-to-day routine, her desires, and the world around her. Joan herself is a well-realized character, and the film makes the right choice to spend a third of its runtime with her before the change of actress. It gives the audience enough time to relate to and understand Joan, which makes her transformation a bitter pill to swallow. Unfortunately, the world around her fails to make an impression.
The reason that The Substance works is that the world itself is already absurd. The film has high energy, bright colors, unsubtle characters, and varied camerawork, all immersing the audience in this mad world where the concept of “The Substance” feels believable as a solution to the protagonist’s struggles. Every aspect of filmmaking, from editing to cinematography to sound, is dedicated to immersing the audience into the film’s concept and ideas. Slanted can’t seem to decide whether it wants to be an energetic satire with body horror or a serious comedy-drama with body horror. As a result, the concept of ethnic modification is difficult to buy into, because the rest of the world feels too normal and serious. The film flirts at absurdity with elements such as the corridor with massive portraits of previous Prom Queens, but it never goes all the way. As a result, the film’s overall message fails to land, emotional beats fall flat, and the comedic elements lack the necessary punch. This tonal dissonance results in the absurd moments feeling idiotic and half-baked, and the serious moments feeling empty.
It would not be as disappointing if the concept weren’t such a fantastic avenue to explore these issues. The film does a good job at outlining the struggles of Joan and other non-white Americans, and there are a few lines of dialogue regarding equality and ethnic cleansing that hint at a wider commentary that the film does not have the time to explore. With a longer runtime, this concept could be explored to the fullest. But as it stands, while the message itself is strong, with the idea that building your own identity is the true path to happiness, it all ultimately falls flat.
What further compounds this disappointment is the body horror aspect itself. Much like most things in this film, it does not go all the way and thus is neither amusing nor unsettling. The image of a melting face has been done time and time again, and it really does not come off as truly horrifying despite the characters telling you otherwise. The only time the film approaches true horror is when Jo decides to rip off her face. It’s a scene that could be tragically horrifying, something that brings all the film’s themes together. But the moment fails to land due to a lack of brutality and bluntness. There is certainly blood, but not enough wild makeup or imagery for it to truly stand out.
The true positives of this film are its performances. Both Shirley Chen and Mckenna Grace do an excellent job at portraying the two versions of the same character. Though the film’s writing does paper over a few of the changes, such as voice, Grace does well to make the transformation believable. Both do well at embodying Joan/Jo’s struggles and insecurities. Her self-loathing, pushed on by the constant belittlement of both her and her father, is all captured in Chen’s performance. The temporary joy in Grace’s performance as Jo seemingly gets what she wants is tragic. The loss of identity is clear, and the film certainly does well by not having everything return to normal in a neat and tidy way.
Overall, Slanted has a unique and inventive concept that, with a stronger script, more energetic camerawork and editing, and a longer runtime, could be something truly special. As things stand, however, only the lead performances truly stand out as the film’s lack of commitment to a specific tone leaves every story beat, both comedic and dramatic, falling short of what it could be. Its heart is certainly in the right place when it comes to its message and provocative ideas on racial identity, but these ideas have been explored elsewhere and done better.