Slanted (2026) Review – Disappointing “Body-Horror” Wastes Potential
Slanted: Quick Verdict
The TL;DR: Slanted (2026) is a frustratingly tame and derivative dark comedy drama that entirely squanders a fantastic body-horror premise. While pitched as an intense, Cronenberg-inspired feature designed to follow in the wake of The Substance, the film completely backs away from genuine terror. Instead, it plays out like a toothless cross between Mean Girls and Carrie, diluting its vital social commentary out of an apparent reluctance to truly offend. Boasting uninspired practical effects and an incredibly predictable twist, it is a below-average disappointment that is best left until it lands on a standard subscription streaming platform.
Details: Director: Amy Wang | Cast: Shirley Chen, Mckenna Grace, Fang Du | Runtime: 104 Minutes | Release Date: 13th March 2026 | Where to Watch: Upcoming VOD / Subscription Streaming
Best For: Audiences looking for a light, dark-comedy teen drama who prefer high school satire over genuine, heavy-hitting social commentary or physical scares.
Worth Noting: The film is currently weathering a wave of unfair, reactionary negative reviews from viewers who misinterpret its cultural themes as a broad attack on white America. In reality, it simply aims to reflect the authentic, lived challenges of first-generation assimilation, even if the execution lacks bite.
Did You Know: For a superior horror treatment of the Asian immigrant experience and the harrowing pressure to assimilate into a Western country, you should seek out the very enjoyable 2024 New Zealand body-horror feature Grafted.
Is It Scary: Not at all. The ‘body-horror’ billing is ruthlessly misleading; the absolute peak of on-screen mutation amounts to little more than a mild patch of contact dermatitis. When the movie does attempt grotesque disfigurements, the special effects look like cheap, uninspired rubber masks.
Rating: 2.3/5 Stars
(A brilliant cross-cultural premise that plays it far too safe, burying its body-horror potential beneath recycled high school movie clichés.)
Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at the dark comedy body-horror movie Slanted (2026). This movie had a theatrical release a few months back and should be hitting streaming shortly. It promises Cronenberg-level body-horror through the eyes of an Chinese-American but delivers a tame, derivative teen drama so I’m going to suggest you wait for this to be available on your favourite subscription.
Table of Contents
Another Entry Into The Body-Horror Resurgence
We’ve talked a lot about the recent resurgence of body-horror, on this website. Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance has reignited the entire genre in a way we haven’t really seen since the David Cronenberg era of the 1980s. If you are a fan of the grotesque and mutated, you must be in your element.
“We are essentially looking at a cross between The Substance and Mean Girls, here and those influences are abundantly clear throughout.”
Slanted is one of the latest films to join the fray and it is, perhaps, the film that appears to be the most inspired by the aforementioned horror hit. The similarities are, at times, quite uncanny but that doesn’t undermine what a great premise this movie actually has.
The story follows Chinese-American teenager Joan (Shirley Chen) and her struggles to fit in at school and in her day to day life. Joan is desperate to be popular and longs to become prom queen.
The only problem is, she feels as though her ethnicity is getting in the way. When offered an opportunity to change that, she jumps on the chance, undergoing an experimental procedure to become white. Little realising that she is giving up far more than she could ever realise.
A fantastic premise
We are essentially looking at a cross between The Substance and Mean Girls, here and those influences are abundantly clear throughout. The popular girls are bitchy, almost facsimiles of each other, Joan is a nice girl but only popular with other kids who feel displaced, and she sees her heritage as being a massive roadblock.
It’s a fantastic premise and the prospect of exploring the complexities of navigating white America through the eyes of a first generation, Chinese-American teen is tantalising. Grafted did something very similar but with the protagonist there actually migrating from China and attempting to assimilate into life in New Zealand.
It’s so important to hear a wide range of different voices in horror. Unsurprisingly, however, there’s a lot of people who decide to jump on these types of films and treat them as a personal insult rather than simply another person who experienced a different way of life expressing their truth.
It’s sad to see and Slanted is one of those movies that is likely to incur that level of wrath more than others.
This is a film that’s certainly eating its fair share of unfair negative reviews from certain viewers. For those who miss the subtext, this is a story that can come across as very “white=bad”. That’s really not the case. This is just the real lived experience of people who likely have tons of white friends and even family.
With that being said…
Pushing aside the obvious bias of some viewers who dislike the film for those reasons, Slanted is, honestly, a bit of a let down. Director Amy Wang has delivered a picture that is so derivative of other, much better, titles that it really serves only to disappoint.
“The special effects are so uninspired that characters end up looking like they are wearing cheap rubber masks.”
Every element of this film is copied. The school yard shenanigans are so reminiscent of movies like Clueless and Mean Girls that the line between paying tribute and plagiarising has been completely blurred. The skin colour change aspect, including Joan suddenly being played by Scream 7 actress Mckenna Grace, is far too similar to The Substance to ignore, and certain parts feel extremely reminiscent of Carrie.
There’s nothing original here and the body-horror tag is ruthlessly misplaced. This is far closer to a dark comedy drama than anything else. There are absolutely no elements that will make you wince outside of Mckenna Grace developing a touch of contact dermatitis.
There are some vague attempts to create some hideous disfigurements but, honestly, the special effects are so uninspired that characters end up looking like they are wearing cheap rubber masks. It’s a crying shame and the horror tag sets this movie up with completely the wrong audience.
The most frustrating thing
The most frustrating thing of all is the fact that Wang really doesn’t lean into the Chinese-American experience nearly enough. You really need to be fearless when attempting this type of commentary, just as Jordan Peele was with Get Out.
“Slanted actually manages to be quite touching and heartfelt when we are hearing about the importance of embracing your culture as a Chinese-American”
There’s a distinct need to shout “only joking” after every piece of social commentary and that leaves you wondering why bother at all? I’m white, but my best friend, when growing up, was from Hong Kong and the abuse he used to receive from both adults and children was sickening. Tell that story and don’t sugarcoat it because bigoted people are going to come at you either way.
Some of the satire is quite amusing, in parts, but there’s a sense of nervousness and reluctance that means none of it really bites. The strange thing is, because it’s so tame, it comes across, in parts, as more petty than anything else. It gives people too much ammo to complain because it doesn’t hit hard enough.
There’s no nuance to the framing of life as a first generation American, either, and that’s a crying shame. Joan’s situation is presented as plain old standard high school life when you aren’t one of the popular kids. She has friends, they just aren’t the type of friends she wants to have. She’s almost a little unsympathetic, in that respect.
It could have been great
When the story focuses on Joan’s parents and their attempts to provide a decent life for her, the movie is far more compelling. Slanted actually manages to be quite touching and heartfelt when we are hearing about the importance of embracing your culture as a Chinese-American rather than seeing yet another scene featuring a group of friends all moving in-sync with the token mean girl.
When the big reveal comes later on in the film, it’s been staring you in the face for so long that you are on first name terms. It’s enormously predictable and extremely unsatisfying. It’s also followed by a shallow ending that feels incredibly unsatisfying and almost a little misguided.
Luckily, there’s a few more heartfelt moments featuring Joan’s parents to bring it all back together but it isn’t really enough to get the bad taste out of your mouth. On the plus side, acting is generally solid. I thought both Shirley Chen and Mckenna Grace were excellent. Fang Du really stood out, as Joan’s dad, as well.
Some of Wong’s direction is fairly decent. This is a good looking picture, for the most part, and some of the framing of Joan’s home life compared to the life she aspires to have is well constructed. It does a nice job of highlighting the difference between the grand and the humble. Other moments were just far too on the nose to not roll your eyes at just a little.
With all of that being said, this could have been great but, as it stands, it’s just a below average dark-comedy drama. Body-horror fans will likely be disappointed and I think Grafted is a far better watch when it comes to the Chinese experience in a foreign country.
The Good
- Heartfelt Family Dynamics: The film shines brightest during emotional scenes involving Joan’s parents, particularly a standout, touching performance by Fang Du as her father.
- Strong Lead Acting: Both Shirley Chen and Mckenna Grace deliver excellent performances, doing maximum justice to the material they are handed.
- Sharp Contrast Direction: Amy Wang turns in a visually solid film, using clever framing to highlight the architectural divide between Joan’s humble home life and the grand world she envies.
- Amusing Satirical Moments: The script features scattered bursts of dark comedy and high school satire can be quite entertaining.
The Bad
- Ruthlessly Misplaced Genre Tags: Marketing the film as body-horror is a massive disservice; it is far closer to a tame teen drama and completely lacks viscerally shocking sequences.
- Incredibly Derivative Script: The narrative steps way past paying homage, lifting schoolyard tropes from Clueless and Mean Girls, and identity-swapping mechanics from The Substance.
- Timid, Sugarcoated Satire: Rather than leaning fearlessly into racial commentary like Jordan Peele’s Get Out, the script constantly pulls its punches to ensure it doesn’t cross any lines.
- Cheap Practical Effects: Vague attempts at showcasing physical transformation are ruined by substandard makeup work that looks like low-budget rubber masks.
The Ugly: The predictable and shallow conclusion. The narrative twist is visible from miles away, leading directly into a highly unsatisfying, surface-level ending that feels remarkably misguided given the weight of the film’s initial cultural themes.
Should You Watch Slanted?
You should hold off on a premium rental and wait for this one to land on a standard subscription service. While Slanted possesses an incredibly tantalising core premise, it completely lacks the fearlessness or the visceral punch required to stand tall alongside modern body-horror triumphs like The Substance. It succeeds in being a well-acted, polished dark comedy about high school cliques, but its absolute refusal to let its social commentary bite makes it feel disappointingly safe. If you want a film that explores these exact immigrant themes with actual real body-horror, watch Grafted instead.
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- Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025) review: A glossy but generic remake
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Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.
A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.
