Slanted – Movie Review (3/5)

SLANTED is a coming-of-age body horror dramedy that hits hard. Damn hard! Not only does this genre-mix have a great cast, but it also offers a very simple sci-fi-driven premise that works perfectly. A movie that offers a touch of both Get Out and Carrie should not be missed. Read our full Slanted movie review here!

SLANTED is coming out in theaters on Friday the 13th of March, and I would absolutely recommend that you check it out. This is a coming-of-age genre movie with a story that centers on someone who wants to become Prom Queen. This alone will lead to moments that can only lead to any horror fan thinking of Stephen King‘s Carrie (coming soon in a 2026 Mike Flanagan series version).

Also, the core plot of this body horror-driven dramedy has elements of Get Out in terms of racial elements. A young Chinese girl grows up in an area that feels like something out of The Stepford Wives (or Holland, if I were to reference something newer). With a runtime of 102 minutes, there is enough room to focus on a character-driven plot that should both anger you and break your heart.

Continue reading our Slanted body horror movie review below. Find it in theaters on Friday the 13th of March, 2026.

Such a strong premise

I’ve already compared Slanted to both the iconic coming-of-age horror story from Carrie and Jordan Peele‘s racial horror premise from Get Out. And I stand firmly by those comparisons. However, I would also like to mention a more recent movie with Grafted.

In Slanted, we meet Joan Huang (Shirley Chen), who arrived in the US with her parents when she was a young girl. Almost before she has even taken a seat in her new American school, a boy has made a face, pulling his eyes into a slanted look. Welcome to America, you will never look like “real” Americans!

That seems to be the message Joan receives loud and clear from the opening scene.

Quick side note

Please, make sure you pay attention to the names of shops in the background. Both as Joan arrives in the US and later, when she’s in High School. A lot of valid commentary comes across there!

We quickly move to Joan’s high school experience, and it’s clear that Joan now idolizes the popular girls. All of them are white and blond, but Joan still has dreams of being prom queen herself. Of course, looking over the prom queens of years past, it’s clear she doesn’t have “the look”.

So, when “Ethnos” shows up in her DMs (quite literally), she realizes that maybe she can better her chances of winning. Ethnos is a mysterious cosmetic surgery clinic with one specialty: They make people of color appear white. It’s a quick surgery, so no need to worry about any recovery time before prom.

Enter Mckenna Grace as “Jo”

Joan wants so desperately to be one of the popular girls she has grown up idolizing, so she undergoes the procedure. Now, she is exactly like the Mean Girls clones at her high school. Joan wakes up from the procedure and is now a beautiful blonde. Obviously, her parents are initially confused. Then, they are in shock as they realize the white girl in their house is their daughter.

She is now portrayed by horror darling Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Anniversary) and obviously can’t use her real identity in High School any longer. So, now Joan changes her name to “Jo Hunt”, and within hours, she is destined for the crown.

Obviously, fitting in with the blonde girls at her High School isn’t without consequences. The one place she did fit in all along was with her own parents, and that’s now over. Also, her friendships (her old and true friends) are no longer part of her world.

So, you may be an “It Girl”, but at what cost? Slanted does an excellent job of utilizing dark comedy and sharp satire to set the stage. Then come the sci-fi and body horror elements. The surgery may be simple, but the “side effects” are quite surprising. Also, they come along very quickly!

Watch Slanted in theaters

This new body horror dramedy hybrid comes from Amy Wang (The Brothers Sun), who both wrote and directed the movie. Not only am I a huge fan of the concept and script, but I also found her directing style for Slanted to be spot-on. Amy Wang knows exactly what she wants to convey with this story, and she nails it.

Shirley Chen (15 Cameras) delivers a strong and heartbreaking performance as Joan. She shows us the consequences of a girl who has been shown that she’s wrong, and wants nothing more than to fix her “errors”. Also, McKenna Grace is, as always, on point as the new version of Joan, now called “Jo”, who struggles with new issues. After all, identity is more than just what’s on the outside.

In other key roles, we get to enjoy Vivian Wu, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Amelie Zilber, Fang Du, Elaine Hendrix, and R. Keith Harris (The Walking Dead). Just as it was the case with Get Out, everyone in this cast has an important role to play, and they all deliver!

Hopefully, people will watch this movie and understand the message. Just as I would hope people managed with movies like Get Out and Shudder’s Grafted. In other words, if you don’t “get” those movies, then you probably won’t understand the core of this one. I hope people will choose to watch this as one of their movies for Friday the 13th, as it deserves this release date… this is a horror story many live!

Slanted comes out in theaters on Friday, March 13, 2026.

Details

Directed by: Amy Wang
Written by: Amy Wang
Cast: Shirley Chen, McKenna Grace, Vivian Wu, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Amelie Zilber, Fang Du, Elaine Hendrix, R. Keith Harris